Medusa Javelin
by Nes Mikel
Summary: AU: A failed mission leaves the dreams of Team 7 forever shattered. As Sakura struggles to cope with Naruto's imprisonment, she slowly discovers a secret that has been hidden away from her for a long long time... [Companion fic to Garden of Sanctuary]
1. Placidity

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_The scattered fragments of my thoughts." _

* * *

_**- First Entry - **_

"_**Placidity"**_

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Third year. October 5th. _

_15 years old. _

* * *

_It was the decision of the village. The secret mission of that ANBU man he only knew by the name Sai had revealed itself when Naruto had lost control. Orochimaru had pushed him over the edge at the not-so humble reunion at the Tenchikyou Bridge, and the Kyuubi had pretty much taken over and he went under a violent, uncontrollable rampage. Sai was there to observe and recorded the entire incident to the smallest detail, and handed in the report stating that he was a danger to the village if they continued to let him roam free. Using this as leverage, Sai's superior, a Village Advisor by the name of Danzou swiftly seized control over the Hidden Leaf's Village Council that had governing rights and power that over a Hokage. He forced a court martial concerning the issue, and the decision was made. In a village that already resented him – or rather, the thing inside him – the result was not that surprising. From that day onward, Naruto's home was the long-forgotten dungeons far below the sewers that ran underneath the Hokage Tower. _

_Naturally, when the decision of imprisonment came about, many of his friends, comrades, even his 'granny' had told him to leave and run away from the village. The opportunity was there, and they even offered to lend him a helping hand in the escape, but Naruto politely declined. For Naruto, no matter how resented he was, no matter how much he was hated, the Hidden Leaf was his home. He loved the village. Leaving the village was simply not an option. _

_- Introduction, "Garden of Sanctuary"_

* * *

The woman softly knocked on the door.

"Sakura?"

She barely heard the reply in between the fit of sobs.

"…Shizune… neesama?"

For a while, there was nothing more but silence. The elder apprentice of the Fifth Hokage frowned in front of the door but she expected this quiet the other girl was trying to withdraw into. For the short but sweet three years they've been together under the legendary Tsunade, Shizune had found herself treating Sakura like her adopted little sister, becoming close and slowly coming to understand one another. That was why Shizune knew of Sakura's pain better than anyone else, and it made Shizune feel that much more sympathetic.

"…Sakura, look… it's been four days." The older woman said, her voice in an attempted soothing tone.

For the past few weeks her little sister had been going through some tough times, but she only started to break down after the events of four days ago. Since then, the girl had been crying non-stop, locking herself in her assigned room in the Hokage Tower. It was the day when that damnable sentence was handed down, the day when her hopes and dreams had been shattered into a thousand pieces. And Sakura could do nothing to stop it. She cried until her tears were dry, she cried until her throat ached. And even after four days, she still was crying.

Realizing that she was going nowhere with her words, Shizune tried something a little more direct.

"Today is the day, you know."

Her words were harsh, marking the approaching reality like a nail in the coffin. Shizune knew it was cruel but for the sake of this girl it needed to be done. Shizune soon heard Sakura's uncontrollable chokes of sobs erupting into full-fledged tears as she wept again and again – but then… it stopped. For a moment Shizune wondered if she had finally gotten through Sakura but was quickly proven wrong. It was quiet at first, but there was no mistaking it.

Sakura was laughing.

Horribly worried if Sakura had gone insane from overwhelming grief, Shizune broke the door down with one powerful shoulder slam reducing the door into mere kindling. She found the girl sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, her laughter getting louder by the minute. Shizune held the held the hollering Sakura by her shoulders and shook a little. "Sakura? Sakura! Snap out of it! C'mon!"

She was laughing and laughing.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Shizune couldn't think of doing anything else.

"Sakura! STOP!"

She slapped her.

It worked. The laugher ceased and the insane grin had been wiped off clean from the girl's face. Her face soon settled into something neutral, something cold and detached. She looked like a broken porcelain doll.

"Sakura…"

"…They're gone." Sakura said finally, her voice a mechanical tone.

"…Sakura?"

"They're… they're both gone…"

Tears were starting to form in her eyes again. Shizune comfortingly embraced the weeping girl in her arms. Sakura offered no resistance, and instead accepted the invitation almost too eagerly. They continued to sit on the floor, the silence and the sobs that periodically broke it utterly painful.

* * *

Danzou was a man who thirsted for power and revenge.

The origins for his desire came from his missing right arm and eye, having suffered the loss during the attack of the Kyuubi fifteen years ago. Since then, he has never forgotten the pain and the suffering, not even for one day. He had sworn an oath for vengeance.

The moment he heard the beast was sealed within a baby, instead of acting he waited instead. He was a clever man too, for he knew he wouldn't get his revenge if he acted so hastily, especially so when the child was put under the protection of the then Third Hokage. So he waited, quietly biding his time. He waited and waited until the child who held the Kyuubi within grew strong – so strong, in fact, that he could successfully prove that the child could and would be a danger to the village. It was then when he struck, and he succeeded. By imprisoning the demon child, he ensured his political stability within the Council and disproved the credibility of the Fifth Hokage he despised. Now that he was appointed as the newest leader of the Village Council, Danzou knew it would only be a matter of time until he would take over. He had killed two birds with one stone. He never felt more satisfied before in his life.

His loyal subordinate who carried out Danzou's orders flawlessly was kneeling in front him yet again. Their situation was eerily similar to the day the boy accepted the mission; they wore the same clothes, they held it in the same place, and even the subject of discussion was of the very same mission. The only difference was that this time Sai was reporting the successful completion of the mission instead of receiving it.

"Good work." The village elder praised him.

The boy's head bowed forward. "Thank you, Danzou-sama."

Like before, Sai had a fake smile plastered on his face, but this time he personally felt it looked more genuine. Only… he wasn't so sure if the smile carried forth the intended message. In fact, he still couldn't get used to this new feeling he unlocked just recently, this thing they called emotion.

He felt it for the first time in his latest mission he was assigned to, and the experience was one he certainly did not care to repeat again. Of all the emotions he had to suffer for the very first time in his life, what he felt was – fear. At first, it was horrifically displeasing, but when he let it loose, something had snapped in his mind telling him that everything was going to be all right. He listened to that voice, and gradually he found himself performing better when it came to controlling expressions. He omitted that part from the mission report. There was no need for his leader to be aware of that.

"Is there anything you wish for, Sai?"

Ah, the words he had been waiting for. Sai's head rose from his bow. He nodded.

"Name it. I will do anything in my power to grant your wish."

This time Sai's smile really _was_ genuine.

"Your death, Danzou-sama."

Sai moved swiftly and smoothly. He whipped out a scroll from behind, drawing a simple line on the paper within. Then, molding a bit of chakra, the black line on the paper shifted as he manifested the sharp senbon needle with his signature technique. Before the elderly man could even understand what was happening Sai had already thrown the instrument of death. Danzou was dead even before he hit the ground.

Sai felt nothing at first as he stared at the corpse beneath his feet. Not that he expected to, of course, so he was amusingly surprised when he gradually felt as if he had just taken a stack of weights off of his shoulders even when there was no such thing.

_Am I feeling… relief? _

He liked it. Perhaps he really could get used to this thing called emotion.

A swirl of ink, and he was gone.

* * *

Yamato was nervous as hell. He had finally been called up to see her personally.

For the longest time, he had managed to avoid the summons from the Fifth Hokage. He knew about her reputation and the acts she… erm, 'preformed' when she was utterly pissed off (Jiraiya-sama in near-death when he attempted to peek at her bath when he was young a very good example), so he was scared to think that this time the target of her extremely pissed off anger was directed mostly at him.

Although he had managed to eventually subdue the Jinchuuriki boy thanks to his powers he inherited from the First Hokage, it had caused enough havoc that the report made by Sai had an overwhelmingly convincing effect on the Village Council. The woman loved the boy as if he were her own child, and now the boy was going to be eternally imprisoned. And to think, it was all because of him. He couldn't really blame her for being pissed off. He was the one that failed her, after all. He should have subdued the Jinchuuriki the moment he started to lose control. Hell, even during the trials Yamato was pretty much forced by the Village Council to testify against them adding insult to injury.

Yamato replayed the scene both in the field and in the courtroom time and time again in his mind, thinking of something he could've done that would've prevented this whole mess from happening in the first place. The problem was, he could, and he endlessly blamed himself for not taking action sooner. Yamato's footsteps were extremely heavy as he entered the Hokage office after he knocked on the door and heard her voice telling him to come in.

The first thing he said was: "Hokage-sama, I'm sorry."

What came back was something he certainly did not expect.

"Yamato, I'm not angry."

Well, that meant he avoided his immediate death for now at least.

"Really…?"

The Fifth Hokage nodded her head with the chin on her kneaded hands.

He couldn't help but ask. "Why?"

With those words the neutral mask the woman wore suddenly twisted into a serious expression. She slowly got up from her chair and looked outside the window in the office. He saw several flocks of birds flying by in this typical October evening. All seemed so peaceful. Yamato knew very well that was a far cry from the truth in this village of ninjas. Nature was so ignorant at times.

"This does not leave this room." She suddenly said, her back still turned.

Yamato did not like where this was going. However, given the fact that he had little choice, he gave his consent and nodded. He wasn't sure if the Hokage saw his nod with her back turned around like that, but she seemed to have acknowledged his answer: she turned around with a thin smile on her lips.

"You may come in now."

Yamato heard the door open behind him. He slowly turned around to see the person who entered, and yet again Yamato was surprised. The visitor was certainly someone he did not expect.

It was Sai.

As Yamato continued to gawk in confusion at his traitorous teammate of his previous failed mission, the young man strolled inside the office calmly and stood next to him. Sai nodded once at Yamato, then once at the Hokage.

"It is done." The youth said simply.

Tsunade solemnly nodded at this as she sat back down in her chair. She shuffled through a few pieces of paper stacked on her desk and took out an official looking form. She eyed and gestured Yamato. He took the hint and approached her and the desk and took the form from her hand. It was a request for a transfer.

"As of now, he works under you. Yamato, meet your new vice-captain, Sai. Sai, meet your new captain, Yamato."

"I'll be looking forward to working with you in your squad, Yamato-taichou." Sai offered his hand. The dimmable fake smile of his was still plastered on his face. It was getting on his nerves but he would be damned before he would let it show. He took his hand and shook on it lightly.

Yamato let go and turned to the Hokage. "This still does not answer my question."

"You were not the one I should've been angry at."

Her answer left him only more confused. "That doesn't-"

"You'll see what I mean soon." Tsunade interrupted him. "And remember, this does not leave this room. You are dismissed, Yamato."

Her sharp tongue told Yamato that this conversation was over.

Bowing once out of respect, he left the room.

* * *

It wouldn't take long for Yamato to learn the true meaning behind Tsunade's words. In a few hours from now, the deceased body of the village elder Danzou will be found, dead from a single puncture wound through his brain. Then, a few more hours later, another village elder by the name of Homura will be arrested by special ANBU guards and be found guilty of plotting the crime. Branded as a traitor, Homura will be sentenced and be put death in the same day as Danzou in an unprecedented speedy trial.

The truth was something different, of course. Homura was framed of the crime and was used as Tsunade's scapegoat to cover the assassination conspiracy up. Homura was a village elder Tsunade sincerely disliked, and by disposing of both Danzou and Homura she had essentially killed two birds with one stone.

_This does not leave this room._

Yamato had indeed discovered what she meant and just how deep the scope of anger Tsunade held within. So he kept quiet. He certainly did not want to be on the receiving end of that anger.

It was the correct, and most wise, decision.

* * *

Despite the assassination, the final decision of Naruto's imprisonment was still irreversible. According to law, once the Village Council makes a decision the issue could only revoked with a unanimous vote. With the way things were now, it was something that just couldn't be done.

Danzou and Homura's death was only a shallow victory for Tsunade. She had won the battle but lost the war.

She kept on telling herself it was the least she could do, the she least could do…

* * *

"How does it feel?" Tsunade asked Sai after Yamato left the office.

"Very awkward." The youth replied. "I was empty before. Or so I told myself. It wasn't satisfying if that's what you're implying."

Tsunade shrugged her shoulders. "That's what revenge does."

Sai scratched his head. "I'm not sure if it could be called revenge."

"Then why did you betray him? You had even volunteered for this mission yourself."

He thought carefully at her question. Just why did he betray Danzou? Why did he betray the man that had cared for him, nurtured him, taught him knowledge, taught him strength, taught him everything he knew about the village and the world of today? Sai was a weapon, a tool. He didn't have name, much less something trivial called emotions. He didn't even have a future, and he certainly didn't have a remarkable past to speak of. All he had were missions.

Despite all that, Sai had betrayed Danzou by accepting the mission to assassinate him. In fact, it was Sai who was the one that confessed to the Fifth Hokage that Danzou was plotting to take over the Hidden Leaf using the imprisonment trial as leverage.

"I'm still not sure, really."

"So this wasn't about your brother?"

Tsunade knew about his past. She had researched about him.

Sai shrugged. "I don't think so. I had known for the longest time Danzou-sama had purposely sent my brother on a suicide mission so he could get rid of him. My brother was the only one in the way of Danzou-sama's desire to grow me into the perfect tool. If I wanted to take revenge, I would've done it sooner."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "…Even now, you call him Danzou-sama."

His expression never faltered. "If I can feel appreciation, this is my way of expressing that emotion. He did raise me to what I am."

"Point taken." She leaned back in her chair.

"Is there anything else?" He asked. His felt his continued presence was unnecessary.

"No."

He sharply bowed and turned around to leave. Steps before the door, he paused. He remembered something. "Ah, one thing."

"What is it?"

"Can I ask a favor?"

He couldn't see it but he knew his new leader was smiling wearily. "We're partners in crime now. Name it."

"Can you make me Naruto-kun's escort to the dungeons?"

This seemed to have shocked Tsunade. For a while, nothing came back. He slowly turned around to face the Hokage once more and indeed, she wore a rather startled expression on her face.

"Why?" She finally asked.

"Don't worry, I won't help him escape or anything, although I doubt he would accept my help even if I offered. I just wanted to talk to him, and to thank him."

"…For what?"

"You asked earlier why I had done this. I think I have an answer."

"…You mean… you had done all this… for him…?"

Sai smiled genuinely for the second time today.

* * *

He's had countless visitors to the room he was temporarily held in until the sentence was carried out, but for Naruto this most recent visitor was the hardest to deal with. And, of course, like many others before him had offered, this particular visitor was convincing him to escape the village. He did appreciate their efforts to help him, he really did… but why couldn't they just understand that his mind was made up already?

"Iruka-sensei! I told you, for the last time, I'm going to accept this."

He really wasn't used to having the father figure of his life in tears. It was the second time he had seen him like this, and this second time was just as, or perhaps even more painful than the first. For him and Iruka both.

"Naruto…"

"Dammit Iruka-sensei! Stop going all teary like that! It's not like I'm going to be dead or anything! Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Silence settled over the two. It was awkward, and Naruto hated this atmosphere. Naruto, escape, Naruto, run away, Naruto, leave the village blah blah blah. Why was it so hard? Why did they have to make this all the more difficult for him? Nothing was black and white in this world, nothing simple, and above all, not easy. He was learning that quickly very well. If his three-year journey with ero-sennin didn't teach him that already, that is.

Heck, many would consider the path he was choosing was the easy way out. If he had run away like all the others suggested he would undoubtedly lead a much harsher life. He would have ANBUs and hunter-nins after him swearing oaths of his death, always running away in a desperate attempt to live just another day. And above all, it would get them – his friends, his family, all of his precious people – in trouble. Helping someone becoming a missing-nin or assisting in the escape of the village was a serious offence. Last he heard, it was even punishable by death. So what he was doing was the correct decision. He knew that, and he was pretty sure all of them knew that too, yet that didn't stop them for acting the way they did. Hah, and they all told him he was the dumb one. Naruto felt a smile coming to his face. For once, he was the smarter one of them all.

"How can you still smile like that?"

"Eh?" Naruto suddenly realized at that moment that he was actually smiling. He hadn't intended to let it show, but he supposed he did if Iruka saw him. A little embarrassed, he laughed uneasily at his teacher's question and avoided his questioning gaze.

"…Naruto?"

"You know, Iruka-sensei, I told you my dream was to be the Hokage someday."

"Huh?" Iruka seemed unprepared for this sudden shift in conversation.

"For a while, it was really a dream, a goal that I was looking forward to achieving someday. But I realized that… all I wanted was to be acknowledged by people. A Hokage was a name that everyone would acknowledge and accept for who you are. So I wanted that, almost desperately, when I was all alone, before I met… you."

"Naruto…"

"After I met you, things changed, Iruka-sensei. I met Konohamaru first. Then I met Team Seven, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, and… Sasuke. Then I met that idiot bridge-builder named Tazuna, that scary Zabuza, Haku, Inari and his mom, the people in Wave Country… by the time I came home from my first real mission, I was acknowledged by an entire country. Then when I came back, more people slowly acknowledged me. The rookie-nine, Team Gai, many Jounin teachers, Gaara and his siblings, ero-sennin, Shizune-neechan and Tsunade-baachan, people of the Sand … before I knew it, many people accepted me for what I was. I was happy."

Naruto bit his tongue a little. "Yeah, it's hard, Iruka-sensei, to throw all that away and my dream of becoming Hokage by willingly accepting this sentence. I had hoped… that one day, I would get the entire village to accept me… but this guy here." He poked his stomach. "I understand he's done terrible things, something not easily forgotten. But, I am happy knowing that even still, there were people who treated me as a human being and not like a monster. I didn't have the world against me. And that, to me… is enough. For that, I love this village. That's why I can't run away, Iruka-sensei. The Hidden Leaf is my home."

A clapping sound cut through the remorseful atmosphere.

"That's such a touching speech. You must've overworked your puny brain in order to spew such words from your mouth."

Surprised, the two turned around to see a figure leaning by the now ajar door of the holding room.

Naruto groaned. "Shit, don't tell me that you're the escort…?"

"Sorry small penis, but I am it."

"Go to hell Sai."

"You first."

Naruto stood, leaving a confused Iruka on the ground. He smiled one last time for his teacher. "It's time, Iruka-sensei." Naruto then hugged him in a bear hug. "Thanks for everything."

"Geez, get a room." The foul-mouthed youth commented.

"Go to hell." Naruto shot back off-handedly as he let go of Iruka. "Goodbye, Iruka-sensei."

Realizing now that his time was over, Iruka stood and slowly nodded. "Yeah… goodbye… Naruto."

Naruto nodded back, then turned to glare back at Sai. "So _sorry_ to keep you waiting." His tone was tainted with sarcasm.

This time Sai said nothing as he calmly strolled out of the room, Naruto following after him. The only person left in the room was Iruka, left all alone with an empty feeling in his empty heart.

* * *

Naruto had half-expected Sai to take him straight to the dungeons in the Forest of Death where he was going to be confined to for the rest of his life, but was mildly surprised when Sai first lead him to the Hokage office. So he had to see granny Tsunade yet again.

He had appreciated all she's done for him. She fought valiantly in the trials, every tooth and nail for the freedom of Naruto. He was certain that if it weren't for her efforts, his current sentence could've been much, much worse. To be honest, he wasn't so sure if he wanted to see her. Well, she was the Hokage. If she wanted to see him, he will. Her word was law. Well, almost. There was that one exception that called itself the Village Council.

"How are you feeling, Naruto?" She asked as soon as he entered the room. Leave it to granny for the first questions she asks to be that.

"Okay as I can be?" He replied, sounding uncertain. He scanned around the office. It was just the two of them inside. Sai was standing outside the door posting as guard. "So… what did you want me to see me for? Not much time left is there?"

"There were a few last minutes changes." She said. "It took some convincing and pulling a few strings but I managed. I found an old dungeon running underneath the Hokage Tower suitable for imprisonment so I had it remodeled a bit. It's a lot more… accommodating than the one that you've been assigned to previously."

"You mean I'm not going to be confined to the dungeons in the Forest of Death?"

"Yes."

So that's what was going on. "Tsunade-baachan…"

"Brat, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that."

Naruto cringed. He was expecting to be punched through the wall any moment now but she continued to sit behind the desk, her face still serious. She looked tired, and much older than he'd ever seen her before. She must have going through so much, and to think, it was all because of him.

"I'm sorry." He meant every word.

"Naruto, the offer is still valid. This is your last chance."

And even now, she too tries to convince him to escape.

Naruto stood up tall and defiant. "I won't run away." He said.

She smiled wearily. "That's what I expected of you. Now, one more thing."

"There's more?" He complained. He just wanted to get this over and done with.

"I also managed to strike a deal with the council."

"Eh?"

"Naruto, it's your choice."

"…Is this about the escaping thing again…"

"No."

"Then what?"

"Your original sentence was to be imprisoned and isolated indefinitely. I managed to bend the last part of the sentence a little."

Now, Naruto wasn't exactly the brightest or smartest person but this time around he managed to pick up on his granny's cryptic hints and guessed correctly on what she was about to say. "You mean I'm allowed to have visitors?"

"Only one."

"Who?"

"That's where you get to choose. Think carefully. You will have to decide now and there's not much time left."

He didn't have to think that hard to reach his conclusion.

"Sakura-chan."

Tsunade smirked at his answer. "You're so predictable, brat."

It didn't take much to offend Naruto and that snide insult did just that.

"Hey!"

"Come in, Sakura."

His flamboyant attitude immediately ceased with those words. The door opened. He spun around only to see his teammate standing right outside the open doorway with her head bowed downward.

"Sa-Sakura-chan…"

"I assure you heard everything, Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

The girl nodded.

"Do you accept?"

Her head still downcast, the girl looked unsure for a moment. She eventually nodded once more.

Naruto was baffled. "Sakura-chan…"

She then looked up for the first time, revealing the face that was previously hidden in the mess of pink hair. It was only then when Naruto saw Sakura's face.There were clear-as day traces of tears scarred all over and her eyes were bloodshot. She had been crying, and had been for a long time.

Tsunade rose from behind her desk and stood. She sparingly glanced at the clock that hung loose on the walls. "It's time."

Naruto looked back at Tsunade, then at Sakura. The girl looked away from his sad glance, but nodded again, a display of understanding. At this point, exchanging words was unnecessary. Tsunade approached the two and rested a comforting hand on both of their shoulders.

"Let's go."

A silent agreement was exchanged, and they all marched out of the door. Seconds before he left the office, Naruto quickly glanced back and stared at the sinking sun outside the window of the room. He burned that image to his mind. It was the last sunset he'll ever get to see.

* * *

Naruto certainly wasn't expecting some grand farewell party waiting for him in the basement of the Hokage Tower where the hallway that led to his dungeon that Tsunade constructed existed, but he did at least expect a bunch of official looking people along with all of those old geezers who had sentenced him to this fate grinning at him triumphantly. Instead, there was no one there. This surprised him. In the pale white walls of the basement, there was just the stairs behind him and the wide, empty mouth of a hallway in front. From what he could see, the dark corridors ahead were strung and laced with runic-looking threads of paper that hung across the ceiling like cobwebs.

"Where is everyone?"

Tsunade answered his question in a heavy voice. "…The only people who are allowed to see you off are the Hokage, the escort, and your chosen visitor."

That meant granny Tsunade, bastard Sai, and Sakura-chan. Indeed, they were the only ones here with him in this room. Still, it seemed something was amiss from the equation.

"Well, yeah, but I figured that those bastards from the council would jump at the opportunity to see me off for good."

"They are preoccupied at the moment." Tsunade replied. She didn't tell him that they were dealing with the death Danzou and Homura right now. There was no need for him to know the dark and dirty things she had done for him, and she intended to take that secret to her grave. The only ones who knew about the truth of the assassination was herself, Shizune, Yamato, Sai, and… Sakura. She was at first against the idea of involving her latest apprentice into the conspiracy, but in the end the girl's tears had broken down that resistance. Tsunade trusted them all. After all, if they were ever found out, it would mean all of their deaths. Lies and deceit. This was the world they lived in.

"Ah." Naruto, clearly oblivious to her thoughts and the truth decided to just leave it at that.

"Give me your hand, Naruto."

He did. Tsunade took out a kunai and a small white plate, and with the kunai she made a small cut on one of his fingers. He winced a little as the blood flowed from the wound, and Tsunade collected a bit of his blood on the plate. She then approached the entrance to the hallway and then sprinkled some of his blood on the pieces of paper that hung randomly from the ceilings. Then, going through a set of complicated one-hand seals with her free hand, the runic words written on the paper glowed an eerie red.

"Sakura, you next."

She repeated the same process with Sakura, cutting a small wound and sprinkling the blood on the paper. Only this time, Tsunade used both of her hands when she made her sets of seals. When she was done, she closed both of their wounds using some of her medical techniques. It was rather unnecessary, for Naruto possessed unnatural natural healing powers and Sakura was certainly capable enough of closing up her own wound. What mattered was the symbolism, the care Tsunade held for both of them.

"It's finished. With the blood-contract in place, Naruto, you can walk through the corridors once, but it'll prevent you from ever coming back. Sakura, you are the only one who can walk through the passageway freely. Not even I can enter it now. Those council bastards made sure of that when they came up with the seal." She smiled sadly. Tsunade then turned to Naruto. "All that's left to do is to walk through that hallway."

So this was it, then. He closed his eyes for a moment before gripping the woman's hands with small specks of tears in his eyes. "Thanks… baachan."

Her reluctant smile grew a little larger. "…I'll forgive you for calling me that this one last time, Naruto."

"Yeah…" Naruto then turned to Sai, who had remained quiet this entire time.

"What are you staring at me for? Is it penis envy?"

This earned a chuckle from both females in the room. Naruto was fuming. "You bastard! Don't you have anything nice to say even after all that?"

"I'm sorry."

The apology caught him so off guard he couldn't hold the surprise back. "WHAT?"

"I said I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I take back everything I said about you."

"Eh… gah… what the hell?" Naruto was utterly confused. That insulting Sai was actually saying sorry? Hell itself would've frozen over before such a thing! Was the world coming to an end? "Why?"

"You have taught me what emotion is. For that, I owe you."

"All I did was to beat you up to a pulp and made you scared shitless!"

The two females bursted into light laugher at the words. Ever indifferent, Sai still had his trademark fake smile on his stupid face. Naruto shook his head.

"Bah, whatever."

He turned around and faced the hallway. He was prepared to enter it for the first and last time.

"Ah, Naruto…"

He would've missed the quiet voice if it weren't hers. He turned around. "Sakura-chan?"

She had a few books in her hands. "I know you don't like reading much, but… here… some books for you to read."

He took the books from her arms and scanned a few covers. They were all hobby books, things to do when one had lots of times on his hands. He smiled. "Thanks, Sakura-chan!" One particular title caught interest. "Ah, gardening eh? Maybe I should try that."

"That's the one Ino gave me a long time ago… why gardening?"

"That's obvious, Sakura-chan! Flowers will remind me of you!"

_POW! _

"Naruto, you idiot! You… you… ahh…" She hastily turned away from him, who lay on the ground unmoving. It was a rather useless attempt at hiding her tears. "Shishou-sama, t-there's some work that I need to take care of." She bowed apologetically to Tsunade. "I-I'll see you tomorrow Naruto… I-I… I'll visit you everyday, so… ahh… dammit…!"

She ran out of the basement floor, crying all the way.

* * *

"Smooth, Naruto-kun. Very smooth."

"Shut up."

"You sure know how to handle the ladies."

"I said shut up. What do you know about handling ladies anyway?"

"That's simple. There is this series of books authored by a sennin named Jiraiya, and it said-"

"Never mind. Forget I asked."

By this time Naruto recovered from his teammate's powerful punch and had managed to stand up, albeit a still wobbly. Tsunade stood off the side, smirking at the exchange. She was obviously enjoying all this.

"Sai."

"What?"

"You said you owe me one. So promise me something."

For a moment, the black-haired youth didn't reply.

"…Very well." He eventually said. "What is it?"

"…Protect Sakura-chan for me, will you? With me being stuck here, I can't do that anymore. Especially now that… she's agreed to become my only visitor to the dungeons. Tsunade-baachan… you know what this means, don't you?"

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed. She gave a curt nod. "Yeah… she most likely won't be looked on kindly. I'm sure they won't say anything to her face since she's my apprentice… but you're right, Naruto."

Naruto nodded, and looked at Sai serious eye to eye. "Just protect her, and… don't make her cry. Promise?"

Sai shrugged it off. "Fine, fine."

"Promise?" Naruto stared at him intensely. He wasn't going to let him off that easily.

Sai gave a heartfelt sigh.

"I promise."

* * *

Sakura was back in her assigned room in the Hokage Tower. Ignoring the door Shizune had broken down earlier she flung herself onto her bed. Her mind was in turmoil. Everything happened so fast, and so much, she didn't know what to do.

_That's obvious, Sakura-chan! Flowers will remind me of you! _

That idiot's voice echoed in her mind.

She eyed a notebook on her desk.

It was a diary.

Maybe writing about it would make her feel a bit better.

* * *

Waving a farewell for the last time to the idiot bastard and the granny Hokage, Naruto took his first steps into the sealed corridors and entered the dungeon.

It was going to be a long walk.

Damn, his toes were cold already.

* * *

Two separate wishes for a peaceful night echoed in two individual's thoughts that evening. One belonged to a hyperactive blond-haired blue-eyed kid who had endlessly bragged that he would be the Hokage someday. The other belonged to a strong-willed but somewhat timid pink-haired green-eyed girl who had a strong determination to protect the two boys she had cared about.

Both of their dreams were shattered into a million pieces that night.

Still, they prayed.

"_**Good night, Naruto." **_

"_**Good night, Sakura-chan." **_

To quote a famous saying, time was indeed a harsh mistress.

Life went on. It didn't matter if their dreams were broken. It just moved relentlessly forward.

* * *

_**- First Entry - **_

"_**Placidity" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Third year. October 5th. _

_15 years old. _

_Today, Naruto will be imprisoned despite the valiant efforts put in by my shishou, Tsunade-sama. The least she could do was for her to change the location of his imprisonment to the beneath of the Hokage Tower instead of the Forest of Death outside. She ordered a construction of an underground dungeon, the place where Naruto will be forced to spend the rest of his life. Before he was imprisoned, he was given one wish, to select just one visitor that had the permission to see him. He had chosen me. At first I was startled, but I knew how important that request was for him so I accepted. _

_I gave him a few books for him to read, and he seemed to take interest in the one Ino gave to me, about gardening. _

_I have decided that in my Diary I would write my daily visits to Naruto's cell. _

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

For those who have previously read the Garden of Sanctuary, this fiction is somewhat of a behind-the-scenes look at what had happened in the AU. I myself couldn't just get enough of Garden of Sanctuary as I had so many ideas and concepts of side-stories in my head I just couldn't let it go. So it came to this.

I have this story planned out in ten chapters. As several of you might have guessed, each chapter deals with each diary entry first introduced in Garden of Sanctuary.

Also, let me make it clear that although there will be romance in the story, and will be the main focus, since I am not terribly good at writing such things it might come out awkward. It worked out okay in Garden of Sanctuary. I'm not sure what will happen in Medusa Javelin.

I guess that's all. Thanks for reading!

- Nes Mikel


	2. Moderation

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_Once again mine." _

* * *

_**- Second Entry - **_

"_**Moderation"**_

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Third year. November 5th. _

_15 years old. _

* * *

Ironic as it may seem, accidents were the very things that allowed knowledge to move forward and advance.

Accidents were usually something that was not desirable. It was an action that was not meant to be, often accompanying itself with chaotic, negative results. However, there were the odd times where something different happened as a result of the accident, something unexpected, something… new. Not always something positive, mind you, but it was something new.

Let's take one such casual urban legend as an example: the discovery and invention of popcorn.

The legend goes that once upon a time a farmer stocked some dry corn and some animal oil in his barn to sell for later in the market. A storm came that night, and a bolt of lightning hit the farm. A spark was lit, and the previously dry barn quickly caught on fire. In a fit of panic, the farmer dashed out from his house and attempted to put out the fire, but is then met with a strange sound that sounded like _pop! _After the fire was out, he then discovers some strange cotton-like white substance. The farmer eventually finds out that the 'substance' was his stocked corn; only it had changed into something different and was, despite his belief, quite tasty especially if accompanied with butter and salt.

So you see? Accidents were sometimes a good thing. After all, accidents contributed to many things. Such as the birth of the stars, creation of life itself, the evolution, the rise of humanity – even the advanced bloodlines like the Sharingan were a result of an accident between one drunken Hyuuga clansmen and a renowned female Leaf Jounin that went by the name Uchiha ages ago during the First Ninja Wars. But that's another story for another day.

What mattered was that accidents were no exception to Haruno Sakura.

In her case, however, the accident, her consequential discovery, and the circumstances surrounding that accident was nowhere as peaceful as the one the farmer in the urban legend had gone through.

It was baptized with blood and death.

* * *

Winter was approaching. The nights were getting longer and colder as the days passed by. If duty didn't keep her here, all she wanted to do was go home, snuggle up to a warm, comfortable fireplace, wrap her body around a blanket and maybe drink a cup of hot green tea in this dark early morning. At least she would get to do just that pretty soon…

"Ugly, pay attention."

But until then, she was stuck with this irritating little prick that was unfortunately her boss.

"I am _so_ sorry fukutaichou-sama. I humbly _beg_ you for your forgiveness." She shot back, her voice sarcastic in every menacing way. "And I do have a name, you know. Maybe I'll actually be appreciative for a change if you use it."

"Why use any other name when this suits you better?"

Sakura growled. "Why you little-"

A sigh interrupted her curses. "Will you two please knock it off…"

"Sorry Yamato-taichou." Both voices chorused. Sakura shot one last menacing glare back at Sai that he promptly ignored. She huffed once as she sharply turned her head away from the offending man and returned her attention to her surroundings.

Her team was currently running through the thick forest, on their way back home after completing their mission to settle a skirmish on the borders of Fire Country and Sound. The sworn enemies of the Leaf were showing increasing signs of hostile activity recently, and today was no exception. They had seen their share of action during the mission, and Sakura was there to assist her three teammates and a few other teams. They had emerged victorious and forced the enemy to retreat in the end. Thankfully, causalities were low, so her job was rather easy.

As expected of the Hidden Leaf's Elite Ninja Squads: the ANBU.

With Sai's recent promotion to vice-captain of the ANBU squad Yamato lead, it was only a matter of time before the only female and remaining member of Team Seven was to be reassigned. Kakashi was – well, he took the news of Naruto's imprisonment very hard, and after he had been released from the hospital from overexerting the use of his eye (in order to… well, whatever he did to prevent that Akatsuki member from self-detonating) he immediately requested the Hokage to reinstate him into the ANBU. With the Hidden Leaf being rather short in capable men and women, he was instantly accepted. Last Sakura heard, he was busy occupying himself with the most dangerous of missions, as if trying to get away from the pain and anguish of it all. Although it wasn't his fault, Sakura was sure her teacher felt responsible for letting the whole team fall apart like that.

Sakura's first thoughts about team reassignment were something akin to Kakashi. Her mindset wasn't that far off from her teacher's – she wanted to do something, _anything_ to keep herself occupied and distracted from the sadness that enveloped her. Sakura knew that the Hidden Leaf were lacking in capable Medic-nins in the field, so she had begged and reasoned with her shishou Tsunade-sama to reassign her either to the front lines or perhaps even a place in an ANBU squad so she could maybe see and help her teacher who was somewhere out there risking his life everyday for the sake of the village. It took a lot of convincing but eventually Tsunade had caved. Sakura was now officially listed as an ANBU Medic-nin.

But out of all the squads she had to land in, did it HAVE to be this one?

Now, Sakura didn't hate Yamato. In fact, her opinion of her squad captain was rather favorable. Despite the sometimes-scary aura he gave off in order to make the men and women in his squad listen to his orders, he was a caring and compassionate man. He was the even the temporary leader of Team Seven in its last days; she later learned that he had actually saved Sakura from falling to her death when she hit her head and lost consciousness when Naruto went berserk and the bridge collapsed on that Team Seven's last, and failed, mission. At the same time she also learned that Sai had actually ignored her as she fell and left her to die and only because of Yamato's interference she was even still alive.

In fact, it was this vice-captain of the squad that she had a problem with the most. She absolutely hated Sai, as he was the very reason why Naruto was imprisoned in the first place. Granted, he was only acting under orders, and had _somewhat_ of a redeeming quality because he had eventually turned against his leader. He had even assassinated Danzou himself personally to prevent that corrupt village council leader from gaining too much power to eventually ensure a political takeover of the Hidden Leaf. The act proved his loyalty to the village, which was why Tsunade trusted him, which in turn forced Sakura to trust him as well. Still, why did he have to continue act like an asshole to her in every possible way? What made Sakura even infuriated was the fact that she learned that _he _was the one who had a hand in which ANBU squad she was assigned to, and even made her the personal guard of the vice-captain – which, of course, meant him! If she didn't know any better, she would've thought that Sai was keeping an eye out for her and maybe even actually cared for her well-being. She snorted at the thought. Was she was considering was totally inconceivable.

Unfortunately for Sakura, what she didn't know was that it wasn't that far off from the truth. Sai was just keeping his promise to the only person who made him feel like an actual human being. When he gave his word to Naruto, he meant it and so looked after Sakura in the only way he knew how by taking her under his wing. That, of course, didn't mean that he couldn't continue to piss her off with his words anymore. It was one of his most favorite hobbies, and he thoroughly enjoyed the swirl of emotions the rosette-haired woman threw at him. Hey, at least he wasn't making her cry, right? On the contrary, he was doing the exact opposite, which should be a _good_ thing.

The small four-man cell squad continued their trek through the woods wordlessly when all of a sudden the four of them heard a startled cry for help. The voice was faint, but their trained ears had instantly picked up on the distress call. Yamato raised a gloved hand signaling his team to stop. They immediately stopped jumping through the branches and paused to listen.

"…Yuugao. How far?"

The last member of their little group, a violet haired woman that went by the name of Uzuki Yuugao titled her head forward a bit as she seemingly concentrated her mind to listen. "…Not that far away." She answered her captain's question. "North-northwest. Distance… no less than 20. We can get there in two minutes."

Sakura was for once thankful she had the cat-shaped mask obscuring her face that came with the ANBU uniform she wore, because otherwise a look of disappointment would have clearly be seen on her face for all to see. They were so close to home; the last thing she needed was a detour that kept away from her cozy date with the fireplace.

"Should we go assist them?"

Not like she needed to ask. A curt nod from her captain was all the reply she needed. Within seconds, the team was well on their way to assist whoever it was that called for help. Meh, it was probably some old merchant who tripped on a log or something…

She was quickly proven wrong when the all-too familiar smell of blood wafted over from their destination.

* * *

The first time Sakura ever acted as a battlefield medic was almost a year and a half ago, early in her apprenticeship under Tsunade. She, along with the Fifth Hokage herself, was dispatched to a makeshift hospital a little behind the front lines, close enough to hear the sounds of battle but far away enough to not actually experience it first hand.

For Sakura, the experience was surreal – men gasping for breath, women desperately trying to cry out their pains of anguish only to find themselves slowly drowning in their own blood – and the smell, the smell! The stench of death was thick, almost suffocating. The air was rotten; blood, guts, sometimes even organs and pieces of brain carelessly dumped on the ground floor, the blood, the suffering, the blood, the blood, the overflowing blood…!

Then came Tsunade's sharp voice from behind.

"_This is the reality, Sakura. Is this the path you really wish to take?"_

* * *

"Well shit…"

Sakura's thoughts echoed Yamato's words. The scenery the team stumbled upon was a bloody mess.

It was still early and the dusk light wasn't enough to make out the clear details, but a quick glance over had told her more than enough. It was a supply convoy, and they appeared to be ambushed. The horse that pulled the cart had its head cleaved off, the massive muscled body lying dead sideways on the dirt road creating a river of fresh blood that poured out from the open wound. Sakura jumped down from the tree branch and approached the cart and stole a quick peek underneath the white blankets and confirmed it stripped of goods and items. She sat the cloth back down and took a more detailed survey of the scenery. She counted… six bodies. Two of their necks were bent at a too much of an unnatural angle, while the others had kunais and shurikens embedded in their vitals that probably ensured their immediate deaths. The ambush was clean and effective and left no trace. The job was without a doubt a work done by ninjas.

Sakura bent down in front of one corpse and examined the body. She recognized the forehead protector of the Hidden Leaf. These people were from her village. A mixture of anger and sorrow silently boiled within. They had arrived too late to save them.

"Survivors?" Yamato asked. He was standing behind her.

She shook her head. "I don't think so…"

"Sakura!" A sharp voice cut through the dim atmosphere. It was Yuugao. "Come here quickly!"

She broke into a quick dash and approached the woman who was hunched over the body that was lying face down next to a trunk of an oak tree. Even before she approached the fallen man she saw the man's chest rise up in down, a sign that he was still breathing. He was still alive. She hastily pulled out some morphine from her tool pouch and carefully injected the substance into the man's arm to ease his pain. She then slowly turned the body over, careful not to disturb him too much in an attempt to get him into a more comfortable position. She went through a few seals as her hands began to glow pink with her chakra, and was prepared to administer the curative technique when the man suddenly came to and violently coughed up some blood.

"Easy there. Don't move too much…" Sakura reassured the man as she pressed her hands against one of his largest wounds.

"Ugh… fuck…" The man managed to open one of his uninjured eyes just a crack. "ANBU… thank god…"

Sakura nodded. She didn't tell him that she was only still a mere rookie in the elite squad. No need to make the patient feel uneasy over something so trivial.

"Izumo, what happened?" The woman with the bird mask that stood behind Sakura asked the injured man.

"…Yuugao…?" A hint of recognition became evident in voice. "That you…?"

The ANBU woman nodded as she took off her mask. Seeing her face, the injured man relaxed a little before but not before he went through a series of short but bloody coughing fits. Only then he opened his mouth and continued to speak. "Was… escorting convey… Sound bastards… attack from nowhere… me and Kotetsu, we tried… wait…" He suddenly attempted to right himself up, but instead cringed in pain and sunk back down into the ground "Kotetsu… where is Kotetsu…? Is he-" He looked at Sakura with pleading eyes.

Sakura had a sinking feeling she already knew the answer to that question. She turned her head to her vice-captain. "Sai?"

Sai normally would've corrected Sakura when she failed to add the vice-captain suffix to his name, but he let it slide this time. He stood after he finished checking the pulse of the last one. "No." He shook his head. "Nobody else."

Her patient's shoulders slumped at the news of his partner's fate. "Dammit… dammit… Kotetsu…"

"I'm sorry." It was all Sakura could say.

"Don't let your guard down." Yamato announced as he walked over towards Sakura and Yuugao. "They could still be-"

He never had time to finish the sentence when he was quickly proven right. Without prompt, a shower of kunai rained upon the group. Sakura had barely enough time to deflect two shuriken that was intended for her with the metal armguards she had strapped over her arm while still trying to heal the wound of her patience with her other hand. Her three other teammates fared a lot better, kunais passing through their illusions as they vanished either in a flurry of ink, splinters of wood or puffs of smoke. Metal clashed against metal as the furious sounds of battle eerily echoed in the otherwise quiet Konoha forest this early morning.

The patient tried to struggle up when he heard the commotion. "Goddamnit… the enemy…!" He coughed some more.

"Don't move!" Sakura almost shouted as she gently shoved him back down. She pressed some more healing chakra to his still-bleeding wounds. "You're in no condition to do battle."

"The bastards killed Kotetsu…!" The patient tried to protest, but made no further attempts to get up when he looked at his own wounds. He must've realized that he was of no use and only would make matters worse if he tried. Thank goodness. Now she could…

She immediately picked up the hint when her patient's remaining eye suddenly widened in surprise. He opened his mouth, trying to shout out words of warning but Sakura was faster; she spun around quickly to see a shadowed figure towering over them, a katana blade high over its head prepared for a vertical slash that would've cleaved both of them in half if she didn't detect the enemy presence fast enough.

Now, if she were much more calm-minded at the time, Sakura probably would've realized that her hands were still glowing pink from the healing chakra. However, given the fact that her current state of mind was full of panic, a natural instinct to protect her from harm had taken over and clouded her judgment. But had she punched the man with her current hands, it would've actually healed the enemy instead of damaging him and would have resulted in her grimly fate. By the time she realized this it was too late; she had already punched the enemy in the chest.

It was an accident that would have cost Haruno Sakura her life.

Well, that's what _should_ have happened at least. The enemy screamed in pain when her fist connected as a sickening _crack_ echoed the premises accompanied by a bright flash of crimson light. The Sound-nin dropped the katana he was holding and the weapon clattered to the ground, useless. The body followed and slumped over Sakura. It didn't move. She gave a startled yelp as she hastily shoved the offending body away from her. It didn't protest as it wordlessly fell to the dirt floor.

He was dead.

"Ah… ahhh…"

It wasn't the first time Sakura seen death. It was common in the battlefield, and Sakura even had patients she was unable to save and die in her arms. Sometimes their faces would haunt her nightmares, endlessly accusing her of being weak, why she was unable to save them, unable to give them a second chance in life…

"_This is the reality, Sakura. Is this the path you really wish to take?"_

Tsunade's words would always help her snap back into reality. She was a Medic-nin. She would do anything in her powers to save whatever lives she can. This was the path she had chosen, and she was determined never to take back her words, for it was her ninja way.

But this… this…

She had just killed someone.

Killed someone.

_Killed… _

Her entire body was shuddering as she horrifically stared at the unmoving body beneath her feet. Her knees buckled, and eventually she slumped to the ground, not wanting to believe what just happened.

It was her first kill.

She barley heard Sai's bored words somewhere not too far away. "Oh great, Ugly is going to pop like a popcorn…"

That farmer in the urban legend had it good with his accident.

Sakura fainted instead.

* * *

The voices, sounding ever so far away, slowly arose her from the depths of unconsciousness. Fragments of words drifted over to her ears.

"…This is interesting…"

"…Yes… not sure what exactly she did… but…"

"…All right… good work… I'll have a talk with her when she…"

"…Can you remind her that…"

"…Yes, yes…"

She heard a door shut, and the sounds of footsteps approached her bed. The girl opened her eyes and turned her head sideways to see the woman with large bosoms wearing a caring smile

"…Shishou-sama…"

Tsunade nodded. "Good to see you awake, Sakura."

"How long was I-"

"Six hours. It's an hour before noon now."

"…The patient…?"

"Izumo lost a lot of blood, but he will be fine. Good work on the emergency ops."

Sakura breathed out a sigh of relief.

"You feeling okay?" Her teacher asked. "Sai just came to see you. He asked me to remind you that you have another mission in two days." Tsunade chuckled. "If I didn't know any better I'd say he was worried about you."

Sakura was silent as she continued to lay still in her hospital bed, still clad in the full uniform of the ANBU sans the mask.

"…I heard what happened."

The words flooded her memories back. Sakura lifted up her arms as she stared at her gloved hands still caked with dry blood. Her body silently started to shake. Out of fear or angst, she didn't know.

"I… I…"

Tsunade sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sakura shook her head sideways.

Her teacher sighed again. "You know, it's inevitable."

"I… I know… but-"

"Everything you learned, from the day you enrolled into the Ninja Academy, the knowledge you have been taught was all for that moment, Sakura. The knowledge – to kill people."

Her teacher's words struck true in her heart. It stung. And it hurt.

"That's what shinobi are, Sakura. And us Medic-nins… heh, we are the most hypocritical of the bunch. You know how they say assassins sometimes make the best of doctors? Well, the opposite is true too, you know. Why, back in them golden ages, of the three Sannin I was the one who scored the highest number of kills…" She trailed off when she noticed her apprentice's unease. "Tsk. Okay, bad example. Here." Tsunade offered her a cup of drink. "Stuff I use to make myself feel better. Don't tell Shizune that I gave you this though."

It was a bottle of sake.

Without hesitation, and much to Tsunade's surprise, Sakura took the cup and drank the alcohol down in one fell swoop.

* * *

By the time she went through her fifth bottle of sake, Sakura was feeling a whole lot better. "Tsunade-shishou, what did you want to ask of me?" She asked as she sat on the side of the hospital bed, pouring herself another cup.

"Well, it's about the man you killed."

Her senses were now dull enough that she didn't react that harshly at her teacher's question. "…What about him?"

"Yamato brought back the body to study for the Research and Development division, and they found some… well, interesting things about it."

"Oh."

"…Sakura, what did you do to it?"

Now Sakura was confused. "Me?"

"Yes, you. How did you kill him?"

Her brow creased as she thought hard. "…A chakra-enhanced punch to the chest. Probably broke his ribs into pieces, the fragments piecing his inner organs…" She paused. "Why?"

Tsunade frowned. "Are you sure?"

"…Um, yes?" Sakura answered, sounding unsure herself.

"Well," Tsunade shifted on the bedside chair as she straightened. "There was injury to the chest, just like you said… but that's not what killed him. When Research and Development preformed the autopsy… they found his heart petrified."

"…Petrified?"

"Petrified."

Her teacher was telling that her enemy's heart had turned into stone.

"But that's impossible…!" Sakura protested. "It must because of some kind of bloodline reaction he carried-"

"That's what they thought too." Tsunade interjected. "The result came up negative, no traces of any form of bloodline."

She thought harder. "…I remember… that there was this flash of light, like a spark when I hit him… but… I-I don't know how…"

Her teacher shrugged her shoulders as she stood up. "I should get back to my office before I have Shizune breathing down on my back. Sakura, one thing through."

"Yes?"

"This isn't the first time such a thing happened. Research and Development were digging through the archives looking through anything related to petrifaction and they managed to find some related material in the old medical records. It seems there was a Hyuuga woman who once ago employed a technique that petrified enemies to kill them. If you're curious, why don't you go ask them? You had a Hyuuga classmate didn't you?"

She was talking about Hinata. Sakura nodded. "Yes."

"Oh, and here." Tsunade took a small box from her pocket and handed it to Sakura. She opened them to see a pile of pills inside. "For hangovers." Tsunade grinned. "My greatest invention."

Sakura laughed uneasily. "Thanks, shishou."

Tsunade placed a comforting hand on her left shoulder. "Sakura, you're a good kid… but don't let this get to you. This is what you wanted, right? Don't back out on me now."

Sakura closed her eyes momentarily before she nodded. "I won't."

The Fifth Hokage smiled at her apprentice. "Good. I'll see you at two for your training. Make sure you finish your visits with Naruto before then, okay? You've been using that as an excuse too much to skip my training these days." The older woman said as she playfully ruffled Sakura's hair.

For the first time after the ordeal, Sakura smiled. "Will do."

* * *

Sakura was discharged from the hospital thirty minutes later. She had, after all, only passed out from shock, and didn't suffer any serious injuries from her mission. After she took a few of Tsunade's homemade hangover pills (they tasted awful!) she found herself walking down the streets of Konoha, pondering for what to do. She really didn't feel like visiting her parents, so she decided to follow up on her teacher's advice and go pay Hinata a visit. Come to think of it, she didn't really have a chance to sit down and talk with shy girl yet…

"'ey! Haruno!"

Sakura spun around, and saw two familiar figures running up to her. One human and one oversized dog: Inuzuka Kiba and his canine companion, Akamaru.

"Kiba, hey!" Sakura waved as she allowed the two some time to catch up.

Sakura and Kiba had become friends when they both made Chuunin rank on the same exam two years ago. They had squared off in one of the matches during the finals that resulted in both of them getting knocked out and ended in a tie. Kiba had been somewhat of an arrogant jerk to her during the match thinking no mere girl could beat him but he had again underestimated a member of Team Seven and was quickly proven wrong. Since then, he held high opinion of her and they found themselves fast becoming good friends. The bestial-looking man was a bit brash and wild, but so was Naruto. She knew how to handle these types of boys just fine.

"It's been a while! 'sup?" He was grinning from ear to ear by the time he was standing next to her.

"Nothing much." Sakura bent down to pet the large dog that barked happily at her touch. Even now she could still remember the small puppy that had found its permanent residence inside Kiba's jackect, but had managed somehow to grow so ridiculously big in three years. "He's grown again, hasn't he?"

"Really? I'm always with him, so it's hard to notice those sorts of things."

Sakura giggled a little. "You should pay more attention, then."

"Heheh… ah, Haruno?"

"Hmm?"

"You just come back from a mission or something?"

She cringed at the question and lightly bit her tongue. "…It's the smell of blood, isn't it?" She asked. Kiba hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded.

"Sorry." Sakura apologized.

"Nah, it's okay. Just wondering. Oh yeah, never had a chance to congratulate you on your promotion to ANBU, so grats! You look good in that uniform!"

"Haha… thanks…"

"No, really, you do! Looks so awesome! Heh, never imagined you'd be the first one of the rookie-nine to land the job! If anything, I would've guessed that Shino would've been the first. Perks of being the apprentice of the Fifth, eh?"

"Speaking of Shino, how is he?"

"He's away with his pops again." Kiba answered. "From what he's been telling me he seems to be doing some pretty cool missions with the old man. He seems to miss Team Eight sometimes though. With the way Hinata is…"

"Hinata?"

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, was just on my way to visit her."

"I was about to go see Hinata myself too."

"Oh really? What for?"

"Just wanted to ask her something." She stopped ruffling Akamaru's fur and stood up straight. "What's wrong with Hinata?"

"She's… well… she hasn't left her house in a month."

This surprised her. "Why?"

"Hinata… well…" Kiba's face was creased in a deep frown, a rare expression coming from him. "I think she loved Naruto."

Sakura almost choked on her words. "She wha-?"

Kiba scratched his head. "Yeah, well, it came as a shock to me too, you know? But now that I think it about it, all the hints were there. She always blushed red whenever Naruto was around, even fainted in his presence sometimes. I thought it was just a crush or something for the longest time, but…"

An awkward silence fell between the two.

"How's Naruto by the way?" Kiba suddenly asked, changing the topic. Sakura silently thanked Kiba as she welcomed the change. It was obvious that both of them were feeling uneasy about their current topic.

"He's… well, Naruto." She answered, for lack of a better word.

"Naruto, as in, Naruto Naruto?"

"Yeah, Naruto."

The two Chuunins and the one nin-dog that made their way towards the Hyuuga clan compounds shared a good laugh and a cheerful bark at that. Depressing topics temporarily forgotten, they dived into more casual and entertaining conversations as they walked towards their common destination.

Even ninjas needed a break sometimes.

* * *

The poor timid girl was given too little of a warning. One moment one of the house servants behind the shouji doors was politely announcing that she had a visitor, and in the next instant the doors were violently thrown open sideways to reveal her wild teammate and his trusty dog as they literally barged into her room.

"Yo Hinata! Surprise!"

"Bark bark!"

"Ki-Kiba-kun…! Akamaru …!"

What surprised her the most, however, was the all-too familiar pink-haired girl dressed in full ANBU uniform minus the mask, complete with the spiral tattoo engraved on her left shoulder standing in the hallway just outside her room.

"Hey Hinata."

"…Sa-Sakura-san…?"

The accused girl waved a little as she entered the room alongside Kiba. "It's been a while." She seemed to notice Hinata's surprise as she pointed at her own uniform. "Oh, this? Yeah, as of two weeks ago."

"Isn't it amazing, Hinata? Our first ANBU member from the rookie-nine!" Kiba bragged as he fawned over Sakura as if she were a trophy.

Sakura lightly bopped Kiba in the head as she blushed at the affection he showed. "Idiot. It's not that big of a deal…"

"Of course it is! That's why we gotta celebrate!" Kiba then made his way over to Hinata and tugged at her arm. "C'mon, let's go out!"

"B-but Kiba-kun-"

"No buts! We're going! You've been cooped up in here for far too long!"

Hinata was all but kidnapped by her teammate right out of her clan compounds.

* * *

"…So then, I was like, BANG! Then all of a sudden, the enemy behind me…"

At Sakura's suggestion, the group of three friends settled for eating lunch at the Ichiraku Ramen Stand. Kiba was endlessly bragging in front of his female teammate about his most recent adventures as well as his own overly exaggerated versions of missions Sakura had told him about on their way over to Hinata's house.

"…I thought this was it, you know? You know how they say life flashes before your eyes, right? Well…"

The shy Hyuuga heiress was at first reluctant in leaving the comforts of home, but with Kiba's unending insistence, Sakura's little push from behind, and ultimately the authorization by her father himself had forced her out of the house. Despite herself she found she enjoyed the company of her two friends, and decided that she could use the small excursion out after all. Kiba was right; she had been cooped up in her house for far too long.

"…But you know me, I was going to have none of that! So Akamaru and I…"

Although it was a hard pill for her to swallow, she just needed to accept that Naruto wasn't coming back. What would Naruto think if she saw her the way she is now? He would probably think of her as weak and pathetic, still the same girl he had seen at the Chuunin exams three years ago. She had thought she had changed when she managed to make the Chuunin rank a year ago. She had guessed wrong.

"…But enough about me, lemee tell you about Haruno! She told me on her way here that she…"

Haruno Sakura. Hinata eyed the beautiful girl with the corner of her eye, although the action was rather unnecessary for someone like her who possessed near-360 degree vision. Sakura… she was totally different from her. She was prettier than her, she was most definitely stronger than her, and had even advanced in rank faster than her. In terms of growth, Sakura probably rivaled her cousin Neji in that regard – he had been made Jounin just six months previous while Sakura apparently had been elevated to ANBU status within the month Hinata holed herself up in her home. There was no way she could compete with the pink-haired kunoichi. No wonder Naruto had always sought after Sakura's affections, no wonder why Naruto had chosen Sakura as his only visitor to the dungeons he was eternally imprisoned in. He probably didn't even consider Hinata when he was given the choice. The thought made her feel even more depressed.

"…Hinata, hey Hinata, you listening to me?"

She only broke out of her train of thoughts when Kiba shook her shoulders with the flat of his hand. "S-Sorry Kiba-kun." She immediately apologized. "I was still listening. P-Please do continue."

"Right, so anyway, like I was saying-"

_CRASH! _

"AIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Shit fuck! Haruno, what was _THAT_ for?"

"Ah, sorry Kiba! I didn't mean to knock over the bowl of Ramen! Honest!"

"Gah, the soup's all over my new vest… sorry Hinata, I'll be right back, ok?"

"O-Okay…"

After reassuring the manager of the Ichiraku he wasn't going to pull off a eat-and-run, Kiba skittered off to the nearest public bathroom to wash the stains off his vest, Akamaru tottered after him. When the two of them were out of sight, Sakura started hollering in laughter.

"Hahaha, did you see Kiba scream like a little girl? God! That was so funny!"

"Sa-Sakura-san, you did that on… purpose?"

Sakura stuck her tongue out a little, looking a little mischievous. "Yep. Well, you have to admit, all his bragging was starting to get annoying."

"W-Well… that's just Kiba-kun's way of cheering people up…"

"…So it's true then?"

"True? I-I'm not sure what you mean, Sakura-sa-"

"You loved Naruto, didn't you?"

Sakura's words hit Hinata like a ton of bricks. It was the last thing she expected to hear from the ex-teammate of her long-time crush. For a while, everything was silent, until she eventually decided on her answer.

"…Yes. I did."

Sakura smiled at this. "You've changed, Hinata."

"…Sakura-san…"

"Manager, one extra bowl of Pork Ramen please, to go." She stood up from the stool as she took out her wallet and left some coins on the counter table. "I should get going before Kiba comes back to kill me." She said. "Well, that and I have some training to do with Tsunade-sama."

"Here's your order, miss!"

"Thanks manager." She received the bowl of Ramen from the manager of the Ichiraku. "It was nice talking with you, Hinata."

"M-Me too, Sakura-san."

Sakura was about to step out into the open road before she paused. "Oh, almost forgot!" Sakura set the steaming bowl of Pork Ramen back on the counter as she turned to face Hinata. "I wanted to ask you something. Hope it's nothing too personal."

Sakura seemed to fail to realize that she had already asked the most personal question she could ever ask from Hinata. Just what more could she ask of her? "W-What is it?"

"Does the Hyuuga clan employ any techniques that petrify the enemy?"

Hinata froze at Sakura's words. She hoped dearly that her reaction wasn't too obvious. She shook her head sideways. "N-No, not that I know of. Why?"

"Well, Tsunade-sama thinks that I somehow managed to come up with a technique that will petrify the enemy with my strike. I think it was just an accident… But anyway, there was apparently some record of someone in your clan using a similar technique. I thought you might've known something about it."

"I-I'm sorry Sakura-san. I don't know anything about it."

"Ah, don't worry about it Hinata. It was probably just a fluke anyway." Sakura scooped up the bowl of Ramen in her hands again. "See you later then, Hinata!" Sakura broke into a small run as she waved at Hinata with her free hand. Hinata waved back as normal as she could. It was at that precise moment when Kiba and Akamaru made their way back towards the Ramen Stand.

"Finally, that should take care of the stains… probably will stink of garlic for days… hey, where did Haruno go?"

"S-She left just a second ago. She said she had some training…"

"Tsk. She should've at least waited for me to say goodbye…" Kiba sounded disappointed as he sat back down on the stool besides her.

"…She… the Javelin…"

"Hm? Did you say something, Hinata?"

Hinata realized quickly that she must've voiced her thoughts aloud. "N-No! It's nothing! Nothing really!"

Kiba looked at Hinata a little oddly, but then shrugged it off. "Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, that time…"

She barely heard Kiba when Hinata found herself lost in her thoughts again, albeit this time it wasn't about Naruto. This time it was about Sakura. Hinata had lied to Sakura just earlier. Hinata of course knew about such a technique… but did the pink-haired kunoichi really perform the forbidden technique that nobody in the clan had been able to replicate since the first and last user had passed away fifteen years ago? The forbidden thrust – the _sekka soushou_ – the Medusa Javelin? But Sakura had no reason to lie to Hinata when she told her that she…

"Hey, Hinata, are you _really_ listening to me?"

"Ah! S-Sorry Kiba-kun!"

It was perhaps at that moment when Hinata truly realized that she would never win against Haruno Sakura.

* * *

Sakura made sure to change herself out of her ANBU uniform and into the regular outfit she trained herself in. She also made sure to hide her tattoo on her left arm with some skin-colored powder normally used to dress the face. It wasn't like she was ashamed of her ANBU status, but she was going down to the basement of the Hokage tower to see Naruto in the dungeons before she trained with Tsunade. The last thing she needed was for Naruto to be worrying over her.

Grabbing a small lantern, she lit the devise as she descended down the basement, past the runic threads of paper and into the sealed corridors that led to Naruto's dungeon. For a few dozen minutes she weaved through the hallways before she found herself in a large room. She had arrived. She instantly spotted Naruto's figure lying sideways on the floor. He appeared to be sleeping.

"Naruto, are you awake?"

"…Sakura-chan." A sleepy voice came back.

"You were sleeping? Sorry, I shouldn't have woken you…"

"Naw, it's ok. Sleeping is pretty much the only thing I can do all by myself around here."

She slowly sat down on the cold dungeon grounds in front of him. "Did you… get used to the life down here?" She asked, putting the dimly lit lantern to her side as she stared at him with sad eyes.

"Hmm… how long has it been?"

"Almost a month."

"I guess I got used to it. It's kind of fulfilling, too. Can read books and indulge myself in hobbies all day long without nobody interrupting."

Sakura recognized the sarcasm and laughed uneasily. "Haha, is that so?" She then turned to the side and stared at the strange plants that were growing in the dungeon. "It amazes me how they can grow here… with no light or water."

"My love is all it needs to grow, Sakura-chan!"

She rolled her eyes. "Right, right. Here, I brought some Ramen for you from Ichiraku."

He eagerly accepted the meal she brought with her and gobbled it up as if it were the very elixir of life. After eating in silence for a while, Naruto spoke. "Sakura-chan, don't you have training to do with granny?"

So he was insightful as ever. Sakura laughed. "If shishou ever hears that from you she'll give you a punch stronger than mine! Tsunade-sama knows where I am, don't worry about it." Her smile then died, and her face turned serious. "It's not like you to ask that kind of a question, Naruto."

"Sakura-chan, it's just…"

"What is it?"

"Well… you know… the rest of the village… might not approve of you coming to see me."

Sakura frowned at this. "If you're that worried, maybe I should live here then?" She joked.

"…Sakura-chan, that's not funny."

"I know, sorry. Okay okay, I'll go. I'll admit, though." She flashed a smile. "Tsunade-sama is sometimes really harsh on my training, so coming here to get away from it is sometimes kind of nice."

They both shared a good laugh.

"Goodnight, Naruto." She stood, and picked up the lantern.

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan."

It was too bad her visit was cut off short. She really enjoyed the stays down here. It allowed her to temporarily forget all of the bad things she'd been going through, and allowed herself to relax in his presence carelessly. Her nerves were all but strained from the ANBU missions she accepted and welcomed this little sanctuary that granted her a little inner peace every time she visited.

* * *

"No."

"I'm warning you Tsunade, the council…"

"For gods sakes, may I _remind _you that it was that very same council that approved of the decision of a visitor?"

"Opinions change."

"Decisions do not. You of all people should know that, Miss Village Council Leader. Anything else?"

"The decision was made when Danzou and Homura were in charge."

"It is still valid."

"Perhaps so. That doesn't mean we should respect the decision of a dead man and a traitor."

"I thought you once had hailed that very same dead man as the hero that saved the village from the wrath of the Kyuubi. How ironic opinions change, eh Koharu? Danzou would be rolling in his grave."

"You are treading on dangerous grounds, Tsunade…"

"For the last time, Koharu, I am not backing down. And neither will Sakura."

"Ah…"

It was at that precise moment when Tsunade's apprentice walked through the office doors.

"Will it kill to knock, Sakura?" She glared.

"S-Sorry, shishou-sama. I didn't know you had a guest."

"So this is the girl?" The elderly councilwoman eyed Sakura and scanned her up and down. "She looks like the type of girl that'll easily succumb to the charms of the fox."

"That's it. Get out, Koharu."

"Hmph. Very well, it will seems that I overextended my stay. Good day."

Tsunade slumped back down in her chair, a little exhausted from arguing so passionately with the stubborn old goat of a woman, a little relieved when the said goat went out through the door and closed it shut. Tsunade then turned to her seemingly confused apprentice. "God… I swear, I sometimes just want to strangle them…"

"What was that all about?"

"It was a warning." Tsunade answered. "They don't want you to go down to the dungeons to see Naruto."

"What? Why?"

"They're afraid that Naruto, or rather, the Kyuubi – might try to take advantage of you and maybe even remotely control you, or worse, take over your body. Stupid if you ask me. If the Kyuubi could do such a thing, we'd all be long gone from this world. You should still be careful of the council though, Sakura. That was the third time this week."

"Understood, shishou-sama."

"And by the way, you're thirty minutes late. If you had arrived in time, you would've saved me the headache of having to deal with Koharu."

Sakura had a goofy grin on her face as she bowed down apologetically. "I'm sorry… you see, a black cat crossed my path, and…"

Tsunade groaned. The last thing she needed was a female version of Kakashi. "I'm not going easy on you today then." Tsunade grinned evilly. "Let's begin."

Sakura wondered just how Kakashi got away with being late all those years.

* * *

_**- Second Entry - **_

"_**Moderation" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Third year. November 5th. _

_15 years old. _

_It's been a month already. _

_There are still some people who ask me what had happened to my teammate, although his records and his existence had been wiped out according to the official records. Naruto seems to be accommodating to his new life in the dungeons and he's growing plants. He seems to be using some sort of special method to grow them. _

_The Village Council has been constantly harassing and pressuring me and Tsunade-sama, trying to not let me go down to the dungeons to visit Naruto. Apparently they were worried that I'd succumb to the charms of the fox. Pfft. Whenever I'm there, though, I forget all the bothersome things and just relax carelessly. I will not leave him down there all alone. I will go visit him everyday. _

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

My head hurts. Probably burned my brain writing this chapter out.If my readers notice a bunch of grammar mistakes in this chapter, that is because it has not been edited yet inmy haste toupload a chapter by the end of the night.I will get around to fixing them later, but for now, this poor author needs some much-deserved sleep.

I changed the story summary a little so it is a bit easier to understand. I realized that being cryptic about it wasn't really helping to attract new readers. Hope this is better.

Much thanks to the people who reviewed my work. I will do my best not to disappoint with my future works. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Till the next one!

- Nes Mikel


	3. Sensibility

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_Long forgotten memories." _

* * *

_**- Third Entry - **_

"_**Sensibility"**_

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Fourth year. June 17th. _

_17 years old. _

* * *

"…Hah… hah… guh, dammit… messed up…"

Nara Shikamaru was in dire straights. He was going to get killed and he knew it. His adversary was close by and he knew that too. Soon, it would find him, and the fate of death will be decided thereupon.

When one looked at Shikamaru closely, you could see that he was smiling. It wasn't like the situation he was in was funny or anything – after all, he _was_ about to get killed – but still, he couldn't help himself to think that this whole thing was just too comical. Him, the lazy genius, actually got himself into a troublesome situation that was going to result in his grimly demise.

Shikamaru always considered himself a ninja that was, to put it simply, just average. He never considered himself special in any way, and always let the others get ahead of him when the opportunity to skip presented itself. All he wanted was to be an average ninja with an average life, marry an average girl as his wife and create an average family with an average daughter and average son. He would retire at an average age, living out the rest of his average retirement and then pass away before his wife in an average death. He had his whole life mapped out in front of him… so where did it all start to go wrong? Perhaps he should've realized beforehand that the moment he became a ninja his life plans was thrown out of the window. If he had known that becoming one would event to _this_, then maybe he wouldn't have become one in the first place.

"Found you."

_Crap. _

Shikamaru slowly turned his head towards the man that spoke. His adversary has his arms crossed in front of him, and it didn't take a genius like Shikamaru to know that the man in front of him was extremely pissed-off… although it was rather hard to tell sometimes because the man's expression rarely changed. At the very least he didn't look like his homicidal self Shikamaru saw in the Chuunin exam incident five years ago, but his killing intent still hung about him like a looming dark cloud.

Shikamaru did the only thing he could. He spoke. "…Gaara, please just listen to what I have to s-"

Before Shikamaru finished the sentence that attempted to reason with the Kazekage of the Sand Village, Gaara raised both of his arms to slowly saturate the surrounding air with his trademark weapon: the sand. It had fittingly earned him the nickname 'Gaara of the Desert' and the strongest ninja title of the Hidden Village in Wind Country. Shikamaru, taking it as a hint that Gaara wasn't going to listen to whatever excuse he had come up with, fled again. First, he had to duck…

_Crash! _

Sand was coming after him in waves. Now he had to dodge to the left…

_Slam! Crunch! _

Jump into the branches…

_Crack! Creeeeeeek… Thud! _

Okay, maybe not that branch. Gaara's sand pulverized the root of the mighty tree that probably took a hundreds of years to grow into that current size in an instant – Shikamaru lost balance and endured a short freefall. Before he tried to regain balance so he would land on the ground unscathed he was suddenly jerked upright, his fall halted. He wasn't saved. He was trapped. His entire body was encased in a Sand Coffin suspended in midair.

Game over.

"Any last words?"

Gaara's words came out like a growl, a clear indication of his current mood. Shikamaru assessed the situation quickly, his mind spinning full-throttle, calculating some sort of method to get himself out of this mess. At the very least the sand did not cover Shikamaru's mouth so he could still speak, and thus the option of conversation was still open. The lazy genius slowly regained his calm and again attempted to reason with one of the most powerful ninjas in the world who just so happened to be very _very_ angry with him.

"Look, Gaara, I admit I have some fault…"

"_Some_ fault? Do you honestly think you can get away with _that_?"

"I knew it was going to be troublesome if I was caught, but she was the one that insisted we…"

"Don't you _dare_ finish that sentence."

Gaara was gritting his teeth. He was probably using all of his willpower trying not to tighten his hands and give Shikamaru the final crushing blow.

"How long?" Gaara asked.

"Um, well…" Shikamaru looked up at the blue sky and suspended his mind into thought. No use in lying. "About… three years I guess."

The semi-startled look on Gaara's face was priceless. "…Three years…? For three whole years, you…"

"I'm sure it must come as a shock to discover this, but…"

"You think?"

The sand Shikamaru was encased in suddenly got tighter.

"Guh… hey, Gaara stop! Stop! It hurts!"

"Of course it does, I intended it to be that way. Now if I just tighten it a bit more, you'll be nothing more than tiny pieces of flesh."

Shikamaru knew that he was quickly running out of options and time so he went for the last resort. "I know you might not believe me if I say this, but I am serious about her!"

The pressure of the sand lifted a little bit.

"…What did you say?"

"…Despite what you may think, I wasn't playing around with her! Really! We were planning to get married when I turned 18, when I officially inherited the Nara house. If you don't believe me, ask Temari! I'm totally being honest here!"

"…………"

Gaara's hand visibly flinched, a clear sign of hesitation. Taking that as a sign to continue, Shikamaru spoke again.

"But Temari… er, well… with her personality like that, so… saying that she can't wait until we get married, so… um… we, uh, did some things together sometimes… and this time you just happened to walk into my office while we were… GWAH!"

The sand got tighter again, choking Shikamaru mid-sentence. It was a bad idea on Shikamaru's part to remind Gaara of the probably the most shocking scene of his life. His dear older sister that had always cared of him since he was young… when he walked into Shikamaru's office this morning to check up on her, it had shattered the precious image Gaara held of Temari. Not to mention, doing it with a man like him! There was no way Gaara was going to approve of that! He just had to tighten his hands a bit more, and…

"Kazekage-sama, please calm down!"

Someone comfortingly gripped his wrist, stopping him in the middle of killing the man who had dared to fool around with his sister. Gaara was slightly shocked. He had never detected this person approaching him, and even the automatic defense ability he possessed never had a chance to kick in to prevent this newcomer from gripping his wrist. Whoever he was… or she, rather (Gaara just then noticed the curves of this young woman in front of him had), she was good.

Narrowing his eyes, Gaara studied the woman in front of him. He instantly recognized for who she was - a Leaf ANBU member. Wearing the traditional lightweight armor, she had a rather long knife sticking out of the large tool pouch she carried behind her back and a cat-shaped mask encased her face. However, what caught Gaara's attention the most was her hair. The color of her hair was pink.

"You… Sakura?"

Despite the mask adorning her face, Gaara could tell that the woman in front of him looked a little startled. She instinctively let go of his wrist and bowed forward a little in proper respect. "Er… yes it's me. I'm glad you've remembered."

"It has been a while."

It has been indeed. Last time they met was when she and Naruto were on the mission to save him from the grasps of the Akatuski when he was kidnapped from his home village almost two years ago. After the rescue, he had learned that she had, with the help of the Elder Chiyo, defeated one Akatuski member, saved Kankuro from death by poison, and had even stayed besides him by his beside to help him recover after he was revived. He owed her a large debt he never got the chance to repay.

He had, offered, in the past, to use the entire Sand Village's military capabilities to take out the Leaf Council that had dared to imprison his dear best friend, but he was convinced otherwise by Naruto himself days before the sentence was carried out to not to attack the village. Gaara was willing to risk everything, but Naruto didn't want to see Gaara lose everything he had gained.

_Be a good Kazekage for me, Gaara._

Naruto had convinced him to honor that promise and thus a second war between the Sand and the Leaf was avoided. Come to think of it, he had almost broken that promise by attempting to kill one of his friends right now. Gaara shook his head. He was sure Naruto could excuse this exception just once.

"Um, Kazekage-sama." Sakura slid off her mask to the side, revealing a young face of a woman that looked a little worried. "I'm sure we have lots to talk about, but can you please release Shikamaru? He looks a little blue."

Gaara narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at the man he was choking to death and gave the request some thought. Gaara then sighed, albeit it was done so reluctantly.

"…Very well."

Gaara stretched out his palm and released the sand as Shikamaru promptly fell to the forest floor with a thud. Looking a little dizzy, the pineapple shape haired man barley managed to stagger up into a standing position.

"Ugh… thanks Sakura. You saved me."

A blank look by the girl was what he got in return.

"…Shikamaru, why the hell are you naked?"

The accused man's cheek flushed a little pink. "Well, I didn't really have a chance to dress myself when Gaara walked into my office when me and Temari were-"

A sharp glare from Gaara shut up him up good. Looking at the exchange, Sakura sighed. No wonder the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand wanted to kill the Chief Tactician of the Hidden Leaf. Sakura pulled out a white towel from her large medical toolbag and tossed it at the said tactician. Shikamaru nodded back at her appreciatively. "Thanks."

Sakura gave back a curt nod as she put her mask back on. "Shikamaru, Kazekage-sama, I was sent by Hokage-sama to remind you that the conference will start in approximately two hours. She wishes to see you both there. And please… don't kill each other until then."

She bowed once more before promptly disappearing in a puff of smoke leaving behind a single sakura petal, a trademark of hers she enjoyed to use. Shikamaru blinked once, and then twice as relief slowly overwhelmed him. He was still alive.

"Don't you dare think this is over." Gaara interjected, shattering Shikamaru's short-lived good mood. "I will ask the Hokage to send me a special envoy to the Sand to discuss the treaty in detail with one of their shinobis, and I plan to specifically ask for you. I shall be looking forward to seeing you in the Sand, _Shikamaru_."

Leaving those haunting words behind, the Kazekage soon followed the pink-haired ANBU as he too, headed back towards the village. Shikamaru was then left alone, naked save a towel, in one of the many forest training grounds located just outside the Hidden Village of the Leaf – complete with many traps that would leave any unprepared ninja in a very exhausting and painful situation.

Shikamaru sighed.

Today was just not his day.

* * *

Sakura sighed.

Today was just not her day.

It didn't take long until Shikamaru and Gaara's small 'incident' to reach the Hokage's ears, and eventually into the ears of the Village Council Sakura slowly learned to hate. Lead by that damnable woman Koharu, the Village Council was nothing but that woman's puppet fully intent on blocking Tsunade's progress every step of the way. The ONLY reason why the Sand and Leaf's good relationships have been maintained to this date was because Gaara had sworn an oath to his best friend to keep it good – who just so happened to be imprisoned eternally because of these fools in the Council! Those idiots took the risk of having a newly won ally turn into bitter enemies yet again just so they could have Naruto imprisoned in order to 'keep the village safe from the threat of the Kyuubi'. She wanted to vomit. The truth was, THEY were the ones putting the village in a dangerous political position in the first place, and had only emerged out of that crisis in one piece because of Naruto's intervention! They should've been thankful! But what did they do? They treated Naruto like dirt!

To put it in Inner Sakura's words… well, actually, this author would have trouble putting it in Inner Sakura's words. She would've simply sounded like a wailing banshee with her head cut off, and a very loud one to boot.

In the end, the Village Council did not care about the state of the village or the people who lived in them. They only concerned themselves with maintaining the power they held, and with the power came the corruption. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Danzou was a prime example, and Koharu was his successor.

"Let me get this straight." One Village Elder leaned forward from the wooden chair he sat on. "So are you saying that our newly appointed Chief Tactician and the Elder Sister of the Kazekage are having an… affair?"

"Sir, I wouldn't call it an affair." Sakura replied through her teeth, barely managing to suppress another sigh. She had been sent as a representative from the ANBU to explain to the Council to explain exactly why Gaara had blown up a huge hole in the side of the Tower when he had caught Shikamaru and Temari in their 'act'. "After all, they aren't married yet to _have _an affair in the first place. Plus, they are engaged with each other."

"Why were we not told of this?" Another Elder piped in.

"Uhh, it's perhaps because they have not publicly announced the union yet?" She replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Do not use that tone with me, _Chuunin_." The first Elder growled as he slowly stood up, pointing an accusing finger at Sakura. "You are speaking to the Village Council. You may be ANBU, you may be the personal apprentice of the Fifth Hokage, but you are still under _our _command, _our _will. You are nothing but a tool. Know your place."

"…I apologize, I have acted out of line." She was gritting her teeth behind her cat-shaped mask, rage slowly scorching across her face. The mask was quickly becoming the most favorite tool she ever used. In Sai's words, Sakura got 'fired up way too easily', and thus her ANBU mask helped her conceal her emotions to the outside world that could easily be taken advantage of. It was her one weakness she found it difficult to correct. She sometimes envied how her vice-captain could be so emotionless with his face, and wondered how he ever managed to pull that all off. She still had long ways to go in order to control such things as emotions.

"Hmph. I will let that one slide, but only this time." The first Elder sat back down in his chair, seemingly satisfied.

"So in other words…" Another Elder spoke up. "They have kept their engagement secret."

Sakura knew this Elder well. The Hyuuga man was perhaps the only person in the Village Council who had ever taken her side. Sakura politely nodded towards him. "That is correct, sir."

A different Elder then sighed. "This does not bode well for the village."

"Pardon?"

A fourth Elder seated at the far right of the semi-oval table rolled his eyes. "What do they teach at ANBU nowadays? Can you not figure out something so elementary?"

Sakura's teeth clenched tighter at the insult, but she decided not to snap back at them.

"Listen," The same Village Elder continued. "The engagement of an important officer in the inner-government of the Leaf – not to mention hailing from a prestigious family – with a _sister_ of the Kazekage himself has huge potential for problems. This could lead to many things. If the marriage goes smoothly, all is well and it could very well benefit both the Sand and Leaf and tighten our bonds for alliance. But the opposite can very well happen too. The marriage can go sour and so will the alliance, then there will come to problem of _where_ they will settle if the marriage does happen – it wouldn't matter if the groom goes to the Sand to live or the bride comes to the Leaf to live: either way it means that ninja has essentially _defected_ from the village he or she swore loyalty to, causing a potential massive leak for information that the opposite village can take advantage of! Should I even care to mention the loads of problems they can cause if they were ever to mate and spew offspring? Heck, you have just told us that they are already engaging in such activities already!"

Sakura was disgusted. How could these men think like that, treating Shikamaru and Temari's feelings for each other as political problems? Why couldn't they be like normal people and be happy for their future? And the way they worded the problems of them having children was totally out of line!

"Sir, they are all theories. They won't necessarily come true…"

The very woman that led this damnable Council then cut off Sakura. "You must be naïve, child." Koharu said as she eyed Sakura disapprovingly. "You must be thinking all of the fairytale aspects about engagements and marriage. This is the real world, and fantasies do _not_ come true."

_Yeah, and guess who killed that fantasy! You!_ Inner Sakura yelled at them in her mind.

"Political engagements are the most sensitive aspects about inter-village relationships." Koharu continued, oblivious of Sakura's thoughts. "It can and will tip the power balance of the Five Shadows and, surly, the other three villages will not remain quiet when news of such union reach their ears. Just how long did you say they have been in a relationship for?"

Sakura honestly didn't know. "I have not interviewed Temari-san nor Shikamaru about how deep their relationship went, Koharu-sama." What she said was true, although from the way she saw Shikamaru naked earlier, she could very well imagine what exactly were doing and just how much and how long they cared for each other.

Koharu narrowed her eyes. "Hmph. So you are lazy. Is this all the ANBU is capable of? Let's see how much funding the ANBU will get next year if they keep this up, shall we? With the way things are going now, it is clear to us that Tsunade is the most incapable Hokage to ever run the office."

Sakura by now was used to the insults and shallow threats Koharu casually threw at her daily. It seemed that this elderly councilwomen loved to toy with her because Sakura was the only one under Tsunade's direct command the Council could order around. Sakura tightened her chin and held her head up high. She was not going to let them get the better of her. "Is there anything else?" She asked coolly. "If not, then please excuse me. I have a inter-village conference that I need to stand guard for in a moment."

"It is not ove-" Even before Koharu finished the first word Sakura had already vanished, leaving a single petal of sakura behind where she stood previous. Koharu slammed the flat of her right hand on the conference table. "Curse her! How dare that vixen disrespect us that way!"

The 'vixen' was a nickname of Sakura used among the members of the Village Council, referring to her privilege as visitor of Naruto who had the Nine-tailed demon fox sealed within. The council had tried time and time again to revoke that privilege when the previous assembly had 'carelessly' granted the privilege, but they had always been thwarted by the Hokage herself when it came to push and shove.

"Gentlemen," Koharu scanned the assembled council around her. "I believe that certain actions must be taken to ensure that the ANBU will not be getting certain necessary funds this coming year. Their incompetence must not go unchecked."

A murmur of agreement was exchanged between the elderly men gathered in this meeting.

"Koharu-san, I disagree." A new voice arose, immediately sending waves of shock throughout.

"And why is that, Hyuuga-san?" Koharu asked politely, although the irritation in her voice was clearly noticeable.

"There are many ANBU directly under our command as well. It will do no good if their funds are cut, there will be complaints and it will ultimately mean weakening this council itself. I am sure it is in our interest to not cut their funds to protect our current status."

Glances were exchanged as the assembled men and woman discussed the Hyuuga man's proposal. However, it was clear that the general concise among them was that of agreement.

"Hmph. Very well, Hyuuga-san. We will put this matter on hold for now." Koharu raised a small wooden hammer and banged on the desk twice. "Session dismissed!" With her words, the people slowly dissipated out of the conference room, and soon there was no one left inside.

Save one.

Hyuuga Hiashi continued to sit in his wooden chair, his eyes closed. He was deep in thought.

"Haruno… Sakura…"

He slowly opened his eyes and stole a glance outside the nearby window, looking at the tranquil scenery out and below. It was rare for him to feel remorse like this. His lips moved once more, as Hyuuga Hiashi muttered a sentence that was forbidden to most ears.

"…She is so similar to you… Setsuka."

In his mind, Hiashi was thinking of a certain day almost two years ago, when Hinata had reported to him that Haruno Sakura had shown signs of using the _sekka soushou._

_The Medusa Javelin. _

Hiashi silently muttered a curse to himself. All the signs were there. Why had he not acted the moment the suspicion arose? For the longest time he had dismissed Hinata's report, thinking it was just a fluke. But when the cherry-blossomed girl continued to advance after the Kyuubi child was imprisoned – both in level and rank – that suspicion turned into worry and eventually into concern. All it took was to carefully scan the girl with his byakugan for her chakra signature and he would know the truth. And today he had done just that, and thus the truth was revealed.

He did not like what he saw.

The Hyuuga clan leader slowly rose from his chair, prepared to leave. He knew what must be done.

* * *

After storming out of the Village Council interrogation room, Sakura was jumping across a few rooftops leaving behind a trail of steam behind her wake. Well, it wasn't like she was leaving behind real steam, but let's just say that the description was a good indication of her current state of anger. Arriving at her destination relatively quickly, she kicked open the window so hard that it dislodged itself from the wall and crashed into the unfortunate refrigerator that stood on the opposite side.

A sigh greeted her once she was inside. "That's coming out of your salary."

"I don't care!" She screamed at him.

"Right. So they did something to piss you off again?" Sai asked as he casually started to pick up the shattered glass that had scattered all over the floor when she broke the window.

"Damn right they did! Why did you have to send _me_ to explain to them what happened with Gaara-kun and Shikamaru! If you weren't my superior officer, I would've killed you for making me go through such things for the hundredth time!"

"Has it been that much already? By the way, you know I could arrest you for not only disturbing me in my off-days but for break-in and threatened assault?"

"Don't get smart-ass with me, Sai."

"That's Sai-_fukutaichou_ to you, Sakura-san."

At least he wasn't calling her 'Ugly' and was instead calling her by name, which was quite rare for someone like him. He loved to use that damnable nickname because he knew very well that she hated it. "I'm never going to call you by that title in my lifetime and you know it." Sakura reminded him.

"Fine, fine. Now what exactly did you want other than to trash my house?"

It was so like Sai to get straight to the point. "You owe me." Sakura said.

"I owe you? Since when?"

"Since right _now_. You sent _me_ as your substitute to the council."

"It was my off-day."

"Like ANBU regulations care about that. I can have you reported for abuse of power if that's how you like to play. I'm sure Yamato-taichou would _love_ to hear about your incompetence. And mind you, this is _not _the first time you did this to me."

Sai sighed again. "So what do you want then?"

"Fill me in for guard duty for Tsunade-sama's conference with Gaara-kun."

Her ANBU squad vice-captain narrowed his eyes. "And what will you be doing?"

"I'm going down to Naruto's."

"For what?"

"To calm down!"

Sai raised one of his eyebrows in response.

Sakura's fury only intensified. "Gah!" She threw up her arms. "Making me explain these things to you again is just pissing me off! Decide now!"

Sai carefully weighed his options. On one hand he could refuse her and most likely have not only Yamato on his case about skipping out work in favor of working on his latest painting, not to mention probably getting an earful from the Fifth Hokage herself for forcing her apprentice to do such unnecessary things – and let's not forget a well-placed high-powered punch from this pink-haired kunoichi herself. On the other hand, he could fill in for Sakura's guard duty to avoid all those things and just stand still at the conference for a few hours while the Hokage and the Kazekage exchanged talks while he dimly observed the Kazekage ever so discreetly staring at the Hokage's boobs. It was an amusing scene, and Sai was sure he was the only one who caught on. Who would've thought that the Kazekage was a breasts man? He supposed it was better entertainment then getting beaten up by two women.

"Fine." He replied.

Sakura was out of his house in an instant, not even bothering to leave a sakura petal behind. Sai sighed one last time as he refocused his attention on cleaning up the mess. He opened the refrigerator to remove some embedded glass and soon noticed something odd – or rather, the lack of it.

"…She took some of my sake."

Sakura loved the alcoholic beverage. Ever since her teacher had offered her a taste, it was almost like she couldn't live without. Given the fact that she was in a foul mood most of the time, sake was the elixir sent from the gods to calm her down – albeit it came with the side effect of Sakura sometimes going into a drunken frenzy. Her temper and her habit to remedy that temper was so famous among fellow ANBU members she was given the prestigious nickname of 'the raging drunk flower'. Sai wondered for a brief moment if she even knew she was called that, but quickly dismissed the thought. He only had a few minutes left before he needed to attend the conference he was filling in for.

A different thought then came into his mind, as his lips curved upwards in a tiny smile. "I feel sorry for you, Naruto-kun." He said to himself.

There was no doubt on Sai's mind on who will be on the receiving end of that raging drunk flower's fury.

* * *

Sakura tossed the last bottle of sake into the nearby garbage can before reentering the Hokage tower as she headed straight for the basement. A quick henge jutsu changed her outwards appearance so she was no longer wearing her ANBU uniform but instead the regular outfit she wore when she and Naruto were still a team.

It had been quite the hassle to retreat into her room to change every time she went down to meet him and so she picked up this trick of changing clothes using the same principles applied to the regular transformation technique. It was actually a trick she picked up from Naruto – albeit in his case he used it for the opposite effect, to change his appearance so he had a _lack_ of clothes to execute his ever-so favorite 'sexy no jutsu'. Just by remembering that incident had fueled her anger even more. She picked up the lantern from the small stand next to the sealed entrances of the corridors and lit the device with a flick of her fingers. She stomped into the dark hallways and made her way through the twisted corridors in what was probably her record time.

"_Naaaruuutooo!" _

She arrived at the large dungeon and promptly yelled out his name. Soon she spotted a pale figure moving in the distance slowly approaching her. "You're so loud, Sakura-chan!" It said.

She didn't even hesitate for a second. With the alcohol in her system, she unconsciously focused a brunt of chakra into her fists and punched Naruto in the face with all her might. A direct hit: the unfortunate boy flew all the way across the dark room.

"Idiot! Naruto! I'm soooo pissed!"

A near groan was what came back from the other side. "Please, Sakura-chan. Not too loud. It might affect the plants…"

She wasn't listening to his pleas. Sakura was still in her drunken frenzy. "Arrrgggh, dammit! Those old geezers, they need to die!"

By the time Naruto came back towards her side, she had all but collapsed on top of the dungeon floors.

"What is it this time?" He asked.

"They're questioning how Tsunade-sama runs her office, and accuse me of being lazy!" The mere memory of what had just transpired arose her anger yet again. "Those bastards!" She yelled. "I'd like to see them try to do what I do! They're already all so old anyway, they should just go home and live the rest of their short remaining lives out!"

"I wouldn't worry about it, Sakura-chan!" He said, his voice smooth and calming. "Just wait like 5 more years or so, I'm sure they'll all be dead by then!"

"…Uuugggh." Her head started to hurt from the alcohol she took in. "Bastards…"

Naruto did have a point. Most of the prominent members in the Village Council were all in their late ages, and it wouldn't surprise her if they all keeled over and died anytime soon. Hyuuga Hiashi was perhaps the youngest member that sat in the seat of the Council, and in a Council full of old men and women, it made him look very young.

Sakura continued on with her rants about the incompetence of the Village Council and the way they tried to make things difficult for her and Tsunade every step of the way for several more minutes. Naruto took in every word. She really did appreciate his company, and the way he took in all of her frustration without a hint of being bothered. Naruto had told her that by listening to her speak about her problems made him feel still useful to her. She had given him yet another hard smack for that, but deep inside she was touched. Naruto had even sometimes taught her a few tips and techniques he learned from his travels like the henge trick she just preformed; he even sometimes gave her life advise – although it should be mentioned that most of his ideas were totally ridiculous. Only someone like Naruto would believe in the philosophy of eating ramen everyday.

By the time she finished venting out all of her frustration for today, she was feeling a whole lot better. She popped in a few anti-hangover pills she made for herself (something that didn't taste as awful as her teacher's) and took a surveying glance around the dungeon.

"But geez…" Sakura muttered as she scanned the numerous plants growing in the darkness. "So many now."

Naruto grinned brightly with her mention of his prized garden. "I planted many seeds of fruits and vegetables too. It should be blooming into flowers soon!"

She narrowed her eyes. It was still June. He still had at least seven or eight more months until the seeds matured into full-blown flowers. "Already?" Sakura asked. "Isn't it a bit too early?"

Naruto looked surprised. "Eh, really? Its spring so… should be. Been only half a year, right?"

Sakura froze.

…_What is he talking about? _

"Naruto, you…"

He didn't seem to hear her. "Oh yeah, how are they doing?"

"Hm?"

"Like, Shikamaru, Iruka-sensei, the rest of the rookie-nine… oh yeah not rookies anymore. Everyone was Chuunin when I got thrown in here… so how are they? Any of them Jounins besides Neji?"

"…" Sakura frowned and didn't reply at first. The mention of Shikamaru's name had brought back bad memories from earlier today.

Naruto however seemed to take her frown in the wrong way. He looked horrified at her silence. "…Don't tell me they-"

She chuckled. "What's with that look, Naruto. Everyone's fine, and they're all okay. They're still all Chuunin though, although we're all planning on taking the Jounin exams soon." She left out the part that she had entered the ANBU two years ago and was essentially considered equal in rank of a Special Jounin. There was no need to let him know about that.

"Ah, that's good." He breathed out a sigh of relief, and soon his ever-so charming smile returned to his face. "You had me worrying there, Sakura-chan!"

_It's you that worries me, Naruto… are you sure that you are okay down here? _

She never had the courage to mouth those words and instead laughed his concern off. "You're such a worrywart." She then suddenly stole a glance to her behind for no reason in particular. "Ah, I should get going."

She was running away again and she knew it.

Was she still that weak?

"Awww… okay." At the mention of her leaving, Naruto had pouted. He was 17 already and he still pouted like he was a 5-year old. His colorful emotions washed away her worry and brought another smile to her face. She approached Naruto and gave him a small comforting hug.

"Good night, Naruto."

He quickly hugged back.

"Good night, Sakura-chan."

Waving her free hand in farewell, she disappeared up and into the sealed corridors.

* * *

While she traveled through the corridors, Sakura couldn't help but repeat in her mind a sentence Naruto mentioned just earlier.

_Been only half a year, right? _

It had in fact been two years. Two long, lonely years. She still had her friends, she still had her mentors, and she still had her family. But ever since her two most precious people essentially vanished from her regular life, she was alone.

_Sasuke-kun… Naruto… _

Her train of thought was broken when she reemerged from the exit and into the basement of the Hokage tower.

There was someone waiting for her.

"I thought you might be here."

"…Shizune-neesama?"

"Come on." Shiznue gestured Sakura over. "Don't just stand there, let's go up. We have a few things we need to talk about."

* * *

When Shizune rushed Sakura into the Hokage office, she expected Tsunade to be the only one there but was mildly surprised when she noticed Sai and Neji's presence inside. As soon as she entered, Sakura noticed Shizune quietly speaking to the ANBU special guards posted just outside the office reminding them to not let anyone in. It seems that whatever happened was pretty serious.

"Shishou-sama, what is this all about?"

"…Sit down Sakura. You too Neji, Sai, Shizune. This is going to take a while."

They all did as they were told. "Is this about the conference with the Kazekage?" Sakura asked. "Did something happen?"

"The conference with Gaara went fine." Tsunade said. "Nothing out of the ordinary except Sai filling you in for guard. I heard what happened over with the council so I'm not going blame you for that. I feel sorry for Shikamaru through. During the conference Gaara specifically asked for him as a special envoy to the Sand to discuss further the fine points of the treaties." She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure we all know what that means."

It meant that Gaara obviously had other plans in store for his sister's fiancé. Sakura chuckled a little. "I suppose."

"That's not what we're here for though, is it?" Sai asked from his chair.

Tsunade shook her head sideways. "No, it isn't. Shizune, if you will, please."

The elder apprentice of the Fifth Hokage nodded. She took a clipboard into her hand and flipped through several pages as she read the report. "As of two hours ago Genin Cell Team Fourteen returned from their C-rank mission. They have been dispatched near the Northern borders of Fire Country, their task assisting in rebuilding a small village a band of bandits had recently razed. After successfully completing their mission, they were on their way back when they were ambushed by a ninja. They identified the attacker to be from the Sound."

_The Sound._

The mention of that enemy village unearthed unpleasant memories for Sakura. It wasn't like she was afraid of them anymore – she had exchanged her fair share of battles with the sworn enemies of the Leaf and had even scored an impressive amount of kills. After she got over with her first kill, the rest of her victims just passed through her like transparent walls. Still, it was never easy letting go of that feeling of guilt. Sometimes she was afraid if she was becoming less and less human, but she slowly began to accept that this was all for the sake of protecting the village Naruto loved. There was no more turning back. She had already stained her hands with enough blood. The only reason she ever felt uneasy with the name now was because of one man.

Sasuke.

In her years as ANBU, she had never once ran into the man Orochimaru chose as his next vessel. Oh, she heard the rumors all right, of the man who thrived in the night, the one who danced in the blood of his enemies, the one who swore revenge to his brother that ruined his life. The one thing that gave her relief however was the fact that although the time limit for Orochimaru to perform another soul-transfer had already passed, Sakura never heard rumors of Sasuke's body being taken over by the sinister Snake Sannin. Yet.

"So a bunch of Genin brats were ambushed by Sound ninja. What's the big deal then?" Sai asked again, looking bored already. "This doesn't seem to concern me."

"The attacker was a Konoha missing-nin." Shizune said.

The pale man's face never changed. "Still doesn't concern me. What, did that missing-nin kill some noble family's brat and their parents want a few ANBU and a Jounin to take revenge?"

This time Tsunade spoke. "Ebisu was the Jounin instructor for Team Fourteen, his students Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. They all recognized the man who attacked them. I'm sure you all understand where I'm going with this now, don't you?"

A brief silence fell upon the room.

"…It was Sasuke-kun, wasn't it?"

Tsunade sighed. "…Much worse, Sakura."

So her worst fears had been confirmed. Sakura didn't realize that she was shaking a little. "So he's…"

"Yes. That twisted bastard finally did it."

Sakura slumped back down in her chair. She hastily squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the tears that were already forming in her eyes.

Uchiha Sasuke was no more.

Orochimaru had finally taken over.

* * *

"This still doesn't explain why I'm here, Hokage-sama."

"Listen to the end for once, will you Sai? Look, when Team Fourteen came back, they barely made it. Ebisu sacrificed himself to let his students escape, but… Sai, you've met with Orochimaru once right?"

Sai nodded back.

"Then I'm sure you know of the strength he possesses. Ebisu might be an Elite teacher but he's no match for someone like Orochimaru. That bastard was only playing with them, probably testing his compatibility with his new body like a kid playing around with a new toy. It would've been simple for him to kill everyone in the team, but instead Orochimaru played games. I won't go into the details because Interrogation only managed to get the bare facts out from the survivors, but I can tell you that it ain't pretty."

"Who made it back?" Neji spoke up for the first time.

"All of the Genins. Konohamaru and Moegi are seriously injured but are in one piece, Udon's missing an arm. I think the girl's in no condition to return to ninja duties after what she went through however; she's suffered some serious trauma. Konohamaru and Udon will probably be okay after some therapy and rehabilitation. Those kids got spunk."

Neji nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer.

Tsunade then turned her head towards the younger of her apprentices. "Sakura, I'm sorry, but I needed to tell you this. Sooner or later you would've found out, and the faster you do the better."

"I… understand…" She barely managed to get the words out.

"So I'm pulling you out of active duty for a little bit."

Sakura's eyes snapped back open, obviously startled at this sudden change of events. "W-what?"

"With Sai's permission, of course." Tsunade added.

It all came together now. "So that's why I was called, then."

Tsunade gave a curt nod. "Correct. Although Yamato is your squad's captain, Sakura is under your direct command as the guard of the vice-captain. I can't transfer her around unless I get an okay from the vice, and that means you."

Hearing this, Sai smiled. "In that case, you have my permission."

Sakura started to mouth a word of protest. "Sai! You…!"

His sly smile widened. "Consider this as payback for the sake you stole."

The girl's face turned beet red. "I… er…"

Shizune sighed. "Sakura, have you been drinking again?"

"…………" Sakura could not reply. She hung her head down in shame instead.

Shizune turned to Tsunade and eyed her master disapprovingly. "This is _all_ your fault Tsunade-sama. There is a _reason_ why letting a minor drink alcohol is illegal – just look at what she's turned into!"

Tsunade waved off her left arm, dismissing the comment. "Come on now, at least she hasn't picked up on all of my bad habits, right?"

Actually, Sakura had pretty much picked up all of Tsunade's bad habits except one: gambling. However, given Tsunade's current streak, it was most likely only a matter of time.

"And you have to admit," Tsunade added. "They are good stuff. Besides, it helped her in the long run, didn't it?"

Shizune rolled her eyes.

"So anyway." Tsunade quickly changed the subject. "Now that I have your vice-captain's permission, Sakura, I'm going to reassign you."

Looking defeated, Sakura only nodded once. Tsunade didn't miss her sending one last threatening death-glare to her now former vice-captain. She chuckled at this. "Don't be like that Sakura, it's not like you're blacklisted from rejoining the ANBU again. All I'm doing is assigning you a mission as a normal ninja, and when you complete it I'll grant you the privileges to rejoin."

"…Can you promise me that I won't be assigned to this sad excuse of a man's squad when I am reinstated?" She asked, a little hopeful.

Tsunade's grin grew wider. "That I can't do."

Sakura groaned at the news. Seeing no further use in arguing the point, she shifted the conversation back into the original topic. "What is my mission then?"

Tsunade gestured over with her chin to the quiet Jounin who sat through this exchange in relative quiet. "This is where Neji comes in."

Neji nodded as he stood up from his chair. "Sakura-san, I am here as a messenger from Hyuuga clan. Hiashi-sama sends his regards to you."

Sakura's eyebrows rose. Well, this was certainly the last thing she expected from Neji. A messenger from Hiashi, who was sending his regards to her? Granted, she liked the man, but they never had met each other face to face other than exchanging glances during Village Council meetings. "Um, er, thanks?"

Neji smiled a little as he continued. "Hiashi-sama requires a favor. I am here to ask if you can grant Hiashi-sama and the clan their wish by accepting the honor to have his daughter under your tutelage. We would be most grateful if you accept."

"…Eh?" Sakura blinked once before pointing a finger at herself. "Me?"

"That is correct, Sakura-san. I had come to the Hokage first to ask of her permission on behalf of the clan. She has agreed. All I need now is your consent."

Sakura stared at Neji as if he had just grown two heads. "…Why does Hiashi-san… er, I mean, Hiashi-sama want me to tutor Hinata?"

"You misunderstand, Sakura-san. It isn't Hinata-sama Hiashi-sama wants you to teach. It is Hanabi-sama."

That's right. Sakura recalled Hiashi had two daughters, and she heard rumors that the younger of the sisters was quite the talented one. From what Neji has been telling her thus far, it seemed that Hiashi expected great things from Hanabi and thus demanded a tutor that hailed from the ANBU to teach his daughter. Sakura relaxed her shoulders a bit. So she had to tutor a girl for a few months. No problem.

"There is a condition, Neji." Tsunade interjected. "I know that Hiashi prefers a one versus one tutoring method, but as long as Hanabi is going to be under the tutelage of a Leaf Ninja she is going to have to enroll as a Genin and be assigned to a team."

Neji nodded. "Yes, Hiashi-sama did make mention of that. He has allowed me to tell you that he is willing to accept any condition as long as Sakura-san is teaching Hanabi-sama."

"Very well then. Sakura." Tsunade slowly stood up from behind her desk. She extended her hand. "Congratulations."

"Eh?"

"You've just been promoted to Jounin."

"…_WHAT?"_

* * *

After the whole initial mess was sorted out and a few loose-ends forcibly overlooked (by order of Hokage), for better or for worse Haruno Sakura was now officially a Hidden Leaf Jounin at the young age of seventeen.

Now, according to tradition, all Leaf Jounin were required to teach a Genin team sometime in their career. It wasn't really a critical requirement, as people like Hatake Kakashi had continued to fail students in his famous bell exam until he eventually passed one certain team after he had been Jounin for nearly fourteen years. But for Sakura, this was an absolute requirement, for this was her mission assigned directly from the Hokage. She was now Jounin, and her task was to shape up all of her Genin students into capable Chuunins.

Haruno Sakura was now the Jounin Instructor of Team Fourteen for Konohamaru, Udon, and Hyuuga Hanabi.

Tsunade had, of course, skipped the entire process of the Jounin Exam that Sakura needed to get through in order to become a proper eligible Jounin. But being Hokage had perks and Tsunade knew a few loopholes when it came to promoting people – in fact, Tsunade ordered Sakura into Jounin rank through battlefield promotion. Given Sakura's pretty good record while she was in ANBU, the paperwork to make her rank official wasn't that difficult.

This all came as quite a shock for Sakura. After all, one moment she was an ANBU Medic Chuunin assigned missions in the front lines and in the next instant she had essentially replaced Ebisu as Jounin Instructor for Team Fourteen and had been assigned the still battle-capable members of the old team plus one new clan protégé as her students. And it was all made official in a manner of hours.

After realizing that what she was waking up into wasn't a dream, she decided to go pay her two new students a visit in the hospital after she was dismissed from Tsunade's office. It relieved her to see Konohamaru and Udon in relative good spirits, especially Udon. He had lost his right arm during the attack, but instead of feeling depressed about his lost limb he was instead determined to become strong enough to protect the ones he cared about. She only regretted the fact that she was the one who had to tell them of Ebisu's fate in the ambush. They seemed to take the news of his death pretty hard and seemed hesitant when she told them she was replacing him as instructor. She had a lot to prove in the coming future.

Sakura checked up on Moegi as well, the girl who had been determined unfit to return to duties in Team Fourteen. She found the poor hysterical girl confined in the Mental Ward, and Sakura left the hospital crying tears of sympathy. It was clear to anyone's eyes that Moegi was unable to return as a ninja anymore.

Next up was the visit to the Hyuuga clan's mansion. Hiashi surprised her by greeting Sakura at the door along with Neji, and after she was ushered in they shared a pretty nice talk together about the future of the team and her new unfamiliar position as teacher. He gave her some good advice and had even gone as far to offer a helping hand to help her teach her students. She was more than happy to accept.

The talk left her with a good impression of Hiashi, who seemed to favor her for some reason she didn't bother to question. Actually, the truth was that she didn't want to question because she didn't want to leave behind a bad impression – after all, he _was _a member of the Village Council and it wouldn't do her any good if she made more enemies in the Council then she already had. However, their meeting had proved to her that he really wasn't all that bad. He was simply a parent who took great interest in the upbringing of his younger daughter. The foul impression she first had of Hiashi when she heard of the tragedy of the Hyuuga during Neji's match against Naruto in the Chuunin exams five years ago had been corrected.

Sakura never once suspected Hiashi's true motives for asking her to become Hanabi's teacher.

During the visit, she was also introduced to Hanabi and Sakura took an immediate liking to the young girl. Inside, however, she was contemplating the difficulties of telling Konohamaru and Udon about how Moegi was unable to return to their team (they had yet to be notified of that fact), and how exactly Hanabi would fill in the void, and, most importantly, if they would even accept Hanabi as their new teammate.

How ironic it was. In the past, she too had been placed in a similar situation. Sasuke left the team and Kakashi was injured. The village then assigned Sai as Sasuke's replacement and Yamato as Kakashi's replacement.

The end result was catastrophic.

Sakura wondered if this was Tsunade's intention all along. By assigning her to teach a team that resembled her old one, was Tsunade giving them all a chance to still end up successful? Sakura didn't know. What she did know, however, was what needed to be done. Team Fourteen was _not_ going to end up like Team Seven. Sakura was not letting them travel down the same path as hers. She was even willing to bet her life on it.

It should be noted that without realizing, Haruno Sakura had successfully become the true successor of Tsunade that day by unwillingly picking up the last of her master's bad habits.

Gambling.

* * *

_**- Third Entry - **_

"_**Sensibility" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Fourth year. June 17th. _

_17 years old. Year 2 of Imprisonment. _

_I kind of feel sorry for Naruto. He has to put up with my rants about the Village Elders. I will never forgive them for stuffing Naruto into such a miserable predicament. Bunch of idiots. I hate to admit, but relieving my stress on Naruto is actually pretty helpful. _

_In fact, Naruto has been pretty helpful as well. He gave me some tips and tricks for me to learn, and a few convenient jutsu's he'd picked up in his travels with Jiraiya-sama. He even sometimes gives me life advice. Who would've thought? The garden Naruto is growing is coming along nicely. He is full of surprises. _

_There was one thing that bothered me though. I asked if it were too early for the flowers to blossom and he thought he was spring. He seems to be misunderstanding time. I've talked with him a little bit more, and he seems to be off in a few places. He thinks he has only been imprisoned for half a year. I now realize that his sense of time has been skewered. I had thought of telling him the correct time, but somehow, I couldn't. _

_I am worried about him. _

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

Yes, the chapter is late again. I am sorry. I'll just say that life for me has been pretty chaotic lately, and I am unable to update things regularly. I can't promise my readers anything when it comes to the date of the next chapter.

This chapter has been pretty satisfying for me to write. With the way the story is progressing and the way everything is slowly falling into place, this chapter had kept myself entertained throughout the entire writing process. What will happen next is anyone's guess. Although I do have a general plan written out in my head, even I really don't know how this is all going to turn out exactly. Well, that's half of the fun in writing, don't you think?

Till we meet again!

- Nes Mikel


	4. Temperance

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_Filling me once more." _

* * *

_**- Fourth Entry - **_

"_**Temperance"**_

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Thirteenth year. February 20th. _

_25 years old. _

* * *

Throughout history, man has viewed other species of animals in many lights. He has looked upon them as predators and prey, partners and pets. He has exploited them economically, studied them scientifically, appreciated them enthusiastically, and exaggerated them symbolically. Above all, he has competed with them for living space, dominated them, and all too often exterminated them.

From his earliest days he has feared certain species as killers. Some, such as lions, tigers, leopards, wolves, crocodiles, giant snakes and sharks, he has pictured as savage man-eaters hungry for human flesh. Others he has labeled as aggressive poisoners – the venomous snakes, stinging insects, deadly spiders and raging scorpions.

In any case, man's fears have greatly magnified the true dangers. None of the supposed man-eaters has ever had mankind as the main dish on its menu. Only on very rare occasions and under special circumstances have they turned to human flesh as a not-so tasty but readily available alternative to their natural diet. Big cats that have taken up man-eating have nearly always done so because of injury of illness, which was very much true when the Nekomata, the two-tailed cat demon, attacked the Hidden Village of Cloud and as a result had itself incompletely sealed in a then-young baby girl.

In the case of a certain wounded fox, he was unable to catch its usual fleet-footed prey and was driven to prowling around a native village where, by pure luck and sheer stupidity on the prey's part, had successfully brought down a human victim. When that happened and the word spread quickly, in no time at all foxes everywhere were under attack as potential man-killers. Myth dominated fact, and as a result the fox is now nearly extinct within the Country of Fire. Even today, man still does not understand the true reasons why the nine-tailed demon fox had awakened and attacked the Hidden Village of the Leaf on that unforgettable night 25 years ago. They never considered that the foxes were the ones that were threatened instead.

In a similar way, poisonous animals have been pictured as a major threat too, attacking man whenever possible. Again, fiction has overwhelmed fact. Poisonous snake do not attack, it merely defends. Snakes needs its venom to subdue its prey which it then swallows whole, and since no venomous snake is large enough to swallow even a small human baby it follows that to strike at a human target is a waste of precious venom. It is a course that is taken only as a last resort in a desperate attempt at self-protection. This has not stopped snakes becoming the most geared and hated of all animals, and are destroyed ruthless wherever they are encountered. To this date, Orochimaru still thinks he is justified for all of his actions and does not regret anything he has done, for it all started when he tried to protect himself in self-defense that set off a chain of events that shaped him into the man he is today.

Animal partners naturally fare better. They fall into several categories, the most ancient of which is the hunting partner. Of these, the dog is a prime example. They have been fully domesticated among the general populace, and some have been bred in several specialized directions. To name some examples, some have been improved for rounding up stock (the sheepdogs), others for scent-tracking (the hounds), others for chasing prey (the greyhounds), others for spotting prey (the setters and pointers), others for finding and carrying prey (the retrievers), others for vermin killing (the terriers), others for guard dogs (the mastiffs), and finally, the specialized ones that does them all (the nin-dogs).

A second and similar category is that of pest destroyers. From the beginnings of agriculture, man has had problems with rodents invading his stored granaries, and so animals such as cats and ferrets were encouraged as rodent-killers and both became fully domesticated species. A third category is that of beast of burden: horses, donkeys, water buffalo, yak, reindeer, camels, llamas and elephants have all been forced over the centuries to bear the weight of human toil. Fourthly, there are the producers, species that give part of themselves without having to give their lives. We take milk from cattle and goats, wool from sheep, eggs from chickens and ducks, honey from bees, and silk from silk-moths.

Finally, there is the special case of the message-carrier. Certain species of birds have been exploited for their extraordinary homing ability and has been in use for many years, their usefulness proven especially in times conflict and war. They were so useful, in fact, that man had been forced to develop countermeasures in the shape of interceptor falcons to prevent their enemies from using that same ability.

One aged owl barely made it back from the wraths from those interceptors only to collapse to its bridle death upon arriving at the headquarters of the Hidden Leaf's Information and Espionage division one such winter morning. The bird's efforts will not be in vain, for it carried information that would prove a turning point in the life of one Haruno Sakura and one Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

"So, who do you think is going to win?" Tsunade asked the moment her apprentice landed silently next to her. The response she got was exactly the one she expected. Sakura turned and shook her head, her eyes shooting up skyward.

"Shishou-sama, you know I can't do that. They're both my students."

"Never stopped you before, right?" Her master pointed out with a positively wicked grin.

"That was the Chuunin exam, and they never got to fight each other in the preliminaries nor the main tournament." Sakura answered. "Besides, if they ever found out that I was favoring one of them, they'll never forgive me."

"Sheesh, you're no fun."

"I'll have you know that they are all my pride. I can't and I won't do something so derogatory to bet money on my students."

Tsunade had the strangest look on her face. "…You know, having students made you all so… rigid. Where did the cute little apprentice of mine that walked into my office thinking she can take on the entire world ever go?" She joked.

Sakura didn't laugh. "The moment when you reassigned me to that man's squad, AGAIN."

The Fifth Hokage sighed. So they still were at each other's throats, then.

"You know, he was the one who asked me to put you under his squad once you had all of them pass the Chuunin exams and were eligible for reinstatement." She tried.

"I know that. More the reason to hate him."

"Do you know why?"

"No and I don't care."

"I think he likes you."

It was Sakura this time that wore the strange expression. "…Shishou-sama, if that was another joke, it was a bad one. Sai probably wants me in the squad so he'd have something to tease. Shino is a human statue and Tenten-san will probably beat the crap out of him if he tried, captain or not."

"So why don't you beat the crap out of him, then?" Tsunade asked the vice-captain of the squad.

"Don't you think I haven't tried?" Sakura sighed. "I hate to admit, but having been partners in the same squad for six years, he knows me better than anyone else among the ANBUs."

Tsunade smirked. "Ohh, is that so?"

Sakura's cheeks immediately reddened. "Shishou-sama! You know I didn't mean it that way!"

"Of course, Sakura, of course." Her malicious grin grew wider. "So, how does 15000 ryo on Hanabi sound? You know that Shizune loves these types of rumors, right? And the way they spread?"

"………20000 on Konohamaru."

"Deal. See, you do know have to have fun!"

Sakura silently fumed.

* * *

Rock Lee was in the middle of one of his famous speeches. The speech, very long and semi-comical if you were not the said recipient of it, was famous for two reasons.

One: it was _long_. If left unchecked and uninterrupted, Rock Lee could pretty much go on indefinitely, something that even his predecessor and mentor Maito Gai could not do. After all, at some point you have to eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom right? Lee accomplished the impossible by not making them a factor at all.

Two: it was _annoying. _It was so annoying, in fact, it was rumored that Lee had managed several times to successfully force the enemy into unconditional surrender just so they could spare themselves from Lee's ramblings. The running joke was that although Lee was a Taijutsu master, the specialist knew this one special voice-related Ninjutsu that was even stronger than all of his martial techniques combined that would've left the enemies crying for mercy.

So far, he currently has been going on with his speech for about thirty minutes. All he really had to say was one word – "Begin!" – but instead he was rambling about his beliefs he so passionately believed in. At one point, a pink-haired Jounin jumped down from the stands and told him to just start the match already, but her kind words seemed to have already been forgotten when he still showed no sign stopping. All the Hidden Leaf Chuunins and Jounins present there in the Konoha Stadium knew one thing was certain. Rock Lee was definitely not getting the job as examiner for the Jounin Exams next year.

"Look what we have down here this moment!" He was saying. "Two young men, both in their prime, rivals for eternity, now fighting each other for the sweetness of victory! Oh bitter joy, oh bitter irony! Is this the challenges our next generations of youth must endure?"

"I'll have you know that I am _not_ a man." Hyuuga Hanabi said, clearly irritated.

Sarutobi Konohamaru's voice wasn't so indifferent. "And can you _please_ start the match already?"

"Patience! One must learn all aspects about the deep symbolic meaning of such a match!" Lee protested, immediately diverging into another topic about the youth of today.

Sighing, Konohamaru turned towards his teammate and now current opponent in the final match of the Jounin Exams. "Should we just go on without him?"

"Please. I don't think I can take a minute more of this."

"Okay, when this coin drops, okay?"

"Fine."

"Here we go!"

Konohamaru flung the silver coin up high into the air.

"Heads or tails?"

"Ha-ha. Very funny Konohamaru."

The two Chuunins vanished the instant the piece of metal touched the ground floor of the arena. Lee only caught on that the match has started when two kunais from opposite directions came at him, which, if he hadn't skillfully dodged, would've probably nailed him into the ground. Disappointed he was cut off short, he grudgingly scanned the surrounding area to watch the two competitors duel in a match that could mean their promotion to Jounin rank.

The Jounin Exams in Konoha were similar in structure to the Chuunin Exams, but still different. The most noticeable difference was perhaps that the exam did not allow any foreign participants – it was held within the village, and even then it was not accessible to the general public although Leaf Chuunins and Jounins could observe the final matches if they wished. The reason was all attributed to common sense: one did not just flaunt your strengths and weaknesses, especially when it came to rival villages. This way, each village managed to maintain the power balance by keeping a veil of secrecy over how strong their Jounins were.

The exam itself was held every second year, but in order to first even get into the exam itself potential Chuunins had a lot to prove. They had to have some ANBU experience, sufficient knowledge of the ninja arts proven through a paper test, and at the very least able to defeat their Jounin instructor with their team. For Team Fourteen, the three Chuunins had only managed to best the prodigy of the Fifth Hokage a year ago, and through continued hard work and determination they earned the privilege to enter the exam. After ten intensive combat-filled days that tested their skills to the maximum, they finally had the end in sight: a one on one match between rival Chuunins, held here, in this stadium.

Udon was the first one in the team to fight, and what an impressive match that was. Udon, considered the least noticed member of the Team Fourteen, proved himself in the match that he was stronger than everyone else originally expected. Despite missing his right arm, he overcome the handicap by attaching a prosthetic and by cramming so many weapons into the artificial limb he turned it into a weapon capable of massive destruction. Additionally, he inherited the Genjutsu skills of Sakura better than anyone else in the team, and coupled with his brilliant tactical mind he was a force to be reckoned with.

In his match, he at first appeared to be losing, battling an older Chuunin who possessed few destructive Taijutsu and Ninjutsu skills. Udon then surprises the opponent by catching him inside a Genjutsu, and before he could break out Udon places him inside a second, more complex illusionary technique. The opponent, unable to figure out that he was still under Genjutsu after he broke the first one could not avoid the incoming barrage of Blast Notes Udon threw at him. All Udon had to do to seal the victory was to sneak a kunai in front of his neck telling him not to move. He was the first Chuunin to become Jounin in Team Fourteen.

Unfortunately for them, the entire team could not share the joy of all of them becoming Jounins in this exam. Konohamaru and Hanabi were to square off in the final match, and so one of them were fated to stay as Chuunin for at least another two years. Being rivals only made the match more interesting, and so nearly the entire Chuunin and Jounin population turned up for this highly anticipated battle.

At the current moment, it was Hanabi that held the advantage. She was considered perhaps the most talented of the Hyuuga clan to date, even surpassing Neji in speed and ability. In addition, she was the one who inherited the raw strength from Sakura and adapted power into her Gentle Fist techniques to produce her own unique style.

Konohamaru was by no means a pushover but he was still overwhelmed. To sum it up in one word, he was a generalist: much like his uncle and grandfather, he specialized in nothing but was a jack-of-all-trades. He could and would adapt himself into any situation and somehow figure out a way out of it, although this time he looked outclassed. The few medical skills he learned from Sakura were the only thing that was saving him from defeat.

What made Hanabi so powerful was that she often used half-variations of all the techniques she knew, such as the Kaiten she preformed just now with only one side of her body flinging Konohamaru all the way across the entire battlefield only to follow it up using thirty-two hands in a really mean kick. Konohamaru all but collapsed on the arena floor.

"Had enough?" She taunted.

Konohamaru staggered up, nearly crippled but his fighting spirit still unbroken. "Heheh… it's not over yet Hanabi."

"Hmph, so now you resort to baffling."

He merely smiled. "I just thought up of a great idea to beat you."

The young woman rolled her eyes. "Typical, coming from you." Hanabi shifted her stance. "Prepare for the end!" She charged.

Then, ever so calmly, Konohamaru stood up straight, and with a dead-serious look on his face he spoke. "Go on a date with me, Hanabi."

The unexpected proposal shocked Hanabi so much she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Just _what _did you say?" She asked, still not believing what he just said.

"I said," Konohamaru carefully repeated. "Go on a date with me."

It didn't take too long for Hanabi to slowly understand what was going on. "If you think you can catch me off guard with that, then you are an idiot. Besides, there's no way I'd go out on a date with someone like y… what are you doing?"

Konohamaru was pulling out a large ceramic bottle of sake from his tool pouch. If there was one thing Konohamaru inherited from Sakura, it was perhaps his love for the alcoholic drink.

"Ah, this is just grampa's favorite brew." Konohamaru answered ever so calmly. "Just give me a second here so I can have a good taste before you pummel me to the ground. I just want to dull my senses enough so I won't remember the humiliation of actually surrendering to you."

"…Who do you think you are, making fun of me like that!" Hanabi yelled at him as she took up her fighting stance and charged at him with all her strength. She was going to finish him off, once and for all.

Konohamaru's goofy grin just grew wider. His free hand twirled around in a one-handed seal as he inhaled in a large breath.

"Katon: _Inshu Kadan no Jutsu!_"

His opponent merely laughed at his feeble attempt at a counterattack. "You think one alcohol-fueled fireball is going to stop me? _Kaiten!_" Hanabi blocked the ball of fire with a full-version of her clan's absolute defense technique, but she didn't count on a projectile coming at her at the same moment. The bottle shattered against her head as soon as she stopped spinning as Hanabi found herself drenched in some sort of liquid. Understanding slowly dawned on her when she realized that she was covered from head to toe in Konohamaru's sake.

Murder in her eyes, Hanabi growled at the offending man. "How dare you…"

"By the way Hanabi, nice view."

She blinked once. "What?"

"You're wearing a nice and thin white shirt."

Hanabi was nearly screaming, quickly hiding her front with her arms. "You perver-!"

She had no time to finish when the Blast Note Konohamru hid in the bottle exploded, leaving Hanabi faceplanted into several empty seats up in the stands.

"And we have a winner!" Lee happily jumped up and down, raising the sheepish Konohamaru's arms in victory. "Well done! That youth power of yours, never forget it!"

"Haha, it was nothi-"

"_You bastard!_"

Konohamaru was suddenly interrupted when he saw Hanabi stagger back down from the empty stands and into the arena, not caring that her shirt was completely torn off and was, essentially, topless. She stormed up to Konohamaru and kicked him between the legs so hard that everyone in the stadium could've sworn that bells have rung. Ignoring the boy's moans of pain when he collapsed to the ground, she then grabbed the collar of the scarf wrapped around his neck and yanked him up so they stared each other eye-to-eye.

"You had _better_ wear something nice for our date!" She yelled at his face.

Konohamaru could only nod. He was going to have a hell of a date.

* * *

Up in the stands, everyone had mixed reactions on how the match concluded. Udon was speechless; Kiba was laughing his head off while his newlywed wife Hinata was telling him to stop because it was embarrassing, whereas Hiashi was crying like a grown man shouldn't have for reasons obvious. Nobody could blame him.

And Sakura?

She was smiling.

There was going to be an extra 20000 ryo in her pocket by the end of the week, much to Tsunade's chagrin.

What goes around comes around.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was bored out of her mind.

She would've loved to go to the Konoha Stadium and cheer her best friend's students on the Jounin Exam but she ended up unlucky. Naturally, everyone in the Information and Espionage division wanted to go see the highly anticipated and exciting Jounin exam final matches but they all couldn't just well drop everything and leave the division building deserted. So they picked her, their newest addition to the team to be the one to stay behind and play house until the matches were over. Such were the misfortunes of being the 'new girl'.

She had already sorted the file cabinets, filled out all necessary forms that needed to be filled, even decoded a few cryptograms intercepted from the enemy that didn't reveal anything they already knew. Having done everything she could, she merely sat in front of the bird's den not really expecting arrival of any more messenger birds. Oh well, at least she would've have to be here much longer…

"Thanks for keeping watch, Ino."

Not really surprised, she turned around to see the head of the division standing behind her. "No problem, Kurenai-san. How did the matches go?"

"Pretty interesting." The older kunoichi answered. "Four people managed to pass in the end."

"Anyone I know?"

"Two of Sakura's students passed. Udon and Konohamaru."

Ino's mouth formed a small 'o' shape. "The Hyuuga didn't pass, huh?"

"Hanabi's match was… an interesting one." Kurenai replied, giggling a little.

"Hm? What happened? Who was her opponent?"

"She went up against Konohamaru."

The blonde woman's eyes went a little wide. "Kono managed to beat her?" Kurenai nodded as she continued her fit of giggles. "How did he do it?" Ino asked.

"I think it would be best if Sakura told you." Kurenai replied with a smile.

Ino looked a bit disappointed. "Awww… fine, ok. I'll do that. Can I go then?"

"Anything new?"

"Nope. Did everything and been sitting here ever since."

"I see, good work. Sure, you can go. Everyone else should be back in a moment. In fact, take the rest of your day off."

The woman immediately brightened. "Thanks, Kurenai-san!" She jumped up from her seat and took a step outside into the balcony when her feet brushed up against something soft. "Ah…"

About to retreat into the deeper parts of the building, Kurenai paused upon hearing the small cry from Ino. "Something wrong?"

"There's a bird here." Ino said as she bent down and picked up the said animal, previously unseen having been located behind the stone pillar that held up the open balcony. It was an owl. Odd choice for a messenger bird. "It's dead…"

Kurenai's scarlet eyes opened wide in surprise. "That's…!"

"Huh? Kurenai-san, you know this bird?"

"Come here with that owl, Ino. Quickly."

Ino did as was told, and Kurenai took the deceased body as she examined the owl's leg. A small cylindrical container was tied to the leg. Unstrapping the said container and opening the lid, Kurenai emptied its contents and discovered a small sheet of wrapped-up paper inside. Her eyes went wide again when she unscrolled the piece of paper and read its contents. "I don't believe this…!"

"…Kurenai-san? What does it say?"

"Ino, get Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama here, immediately."

"But what-"

"_NOW_ Ino!"

She didn't need to say it a third time.

* * *

"I still can't believe you did that, Hanabi."

"He _deserved _it, Sakura-sensei."

After the match, the student and the teacher were sharing a heartfelt talk inside the kunoichi changing rooms. Sakura thought to check up on her student who unfortunately didn't pass the Jounin exams in an attempt to cheer her up. Well, that and she felt a little guilty betting money against her. But from the looks of things, Hanabi needed no cheering up. She was fine the way she was.

"You broke one of his bones in 'that' area, you know?" Sakura informed. "He's going to have to spend several days in the hospital."

Her student huffed through her nose. "I still say he deserved it. That's the price of seeing me naked."

"My, my. Poor Konohamaru is going to have to go through a lot of broken bones before he marries you." Sakura teased as she handed Hanabi several bandages.

"Sakura-sensei!"

The pink-haired woman was still smiling. "Oh come on now, you accepted his proposal right?"

"That was… that… it's just one date… no big deal." The normally feisty girl stuttered as her face slowly turned tomato red. There was no real use in hiding: Sakura knew that Hanabi had a crush on Konohamaru for the longest time, but she had refused to admit her feelings out of pride. Today she had finally taken that small but important step for a relationship. Sakura was proud of her. Looking embarrassed like never before, Hanabi solemnly accepted the bandages from Sakura and started wrapping the cloth around her naked breasts.

It was at that precise moment when Jiraiya the Toad Hermit walked into the changing room.

"Oopsies."

He didn't look convincing at all. Here in front of him were two half-naked women, in a changing-room no less (a fantasy he one day hopes to write about), so it was only natural when his expression turned into something very perverse.

Two pairs of eyes stared back at him.

"_Oopsies my ass!" _

* * *

"Jeez, children nowadays, no respect for the elderly."

An irritated Tsunade stood still behind him. "No matter how you look at it, Jiraiya, I'd say anyone would agree with Sakura and Hanabi when they wanted to punch you in the face."

"It was an accident." Jirairya protested from his seat, carefully cradling the icepack over both black eyes.

Not one of the three women present in the changing room (all of them now fully clothed) believed him. His reputation saw to that.

Tsunade decided to change the subject. "Anyway, as I was saying… we have a situation in our hands. And..." She turned to Hanabi. "Not sure if you want to hear this, little girl."

"I understand." Nodding once, the nervous girl stood up from the bench ready to leave. There was no use being here when it was clear the two Sennins were here to discuss business with her teacher.

It was she who stopped her. "Hanabi, wait, don't go."

"Sensei?" She turned, a little surprised.

"Sakura, are you sure?" Tsunade asked.

"I trust Hanabi, Shishou-sama." Sakura replied sincerely. "She is one of my students, after all."

Hanabi beamed at her teacher's praise. "Sensei…"

Seeing the look in her apprentice's eyes, Tsunade gave in. "…Very well. It might as well be better if I send both of you on this mission."

"Rank?" Sakura asked.

"S. Urgent, too."

The two kunoichi's eyes widened, but there was no more turning back. "What is it about?" Sakura inquired.

"Yamanaka Ino from Information and Espionage came up to see me in the office about five minutes ago and asked of my immediate presence in the division building. Upon arriving she took me and Jiraiya straight to Kurenai, and she showed us this." Tsunade took out a small piece of paper from her sleeve and flipped it toward Sakura. "It was on the body of a dead messenger-owl they founds moments before."

Hanabi leaned over to see as Sakura opened the piece of paper.

The message inside was short and simple to the point.

* * *

_SS-Rank Mission. _

_Status: Complete. _

_Remnants proving difficult to dispose. _

_Request one ANBU backup: Haruno Sakura. _

_Will meet in forest outside the Town of Inns. _

_Time is short, haste will be appreciated. _

_There I shall tell her everything I know. _

_If necessary, contact Sennin Jiraiya to confirm the validity of this message. _

_- Uchiha Itachi _

_**nu ptfrt pg yjr gpityj jplshr **_

* * *

"Uchiha… Itachi…?" Hanabi muttered the two words unbelievingly.

Shaking, Sakura looked up from the piece of paper and looked back and forth between Tsunade and Jiraiya in front of her. "This is…"

"I couldn't really believe it myself." Tsunade admitted. "But I asked this pervert here and he says it's true. Kurenai even confirmed that the messenger-owl that got here was one Itachi used before he became missing-nin."

"What is going on…? Does that mean Itachi… from the beginning?"

Jiraiya put down the icepack back onto the bench and eyed the two confused kunoichi serious. "Listen carefully now, misses. What I say from now on must be kept absolutely secret. Understand?"

Hanabi looked unsure, but Sakura nodded their consent. Jiraiya went on. "See those squiggles at the bottom of the message? That's a special contact code used by Leaf Ninjas acting under top-secret orders. It's a little hard to make out but it's actually a simple cryptogram that replaces one letter with another that translates to: '_By order of the Third Hokage'_. Either way, it is a code that's not really meant to hide anything, but instead it's a special method of writing to ensure that this message is indeed valid and the ninja is acting under orders of the Hokage."

"Anyway," Jiraiya continued. "Now that he has sent us this message I guess it's okay to tell you this. Itachi – is a double agent working for the Hidden Leaf. He was my contact inside the Akatsuki and has been providing me information on the organization's inner works for almost a decade now."

"I have to admit, even I don't know what his true objectives are, but I suspect that the Uchiha Massacre he caused was a part of the mission itself – there were some shady rumors about the Uchiha back then, so who knows what the truth was – but either way, Itachi became missing-nin by killing all of his clansmen save his brother most likely under orders of the Third. He then infiltrated the Akatsuki and contacted me as the relay of information to the Leaf. He has told me that the Akatsuki so far has…" Jiraiya turned to Hanabi, then Sakura. "Does the girl know about Naruto, Sakura?"

"Yes, she does."

"Fine then. He has told me that the Akatsuki has so far collected eight Jinchuuriki and is awaiting the capture of the last one – which means Naruto. That was a year ago, I haven't had contact with him since. And all of a sudden this piece of paper waltzes through our door. I can only conclude that Itachi finally moved in to eliminate the Akatsuki organization from within and succeeded in doing whatever necessary to complete his given mission, but…"

"It says here: '_Remnants proving difficult to dispose'. _He is requesting Sakura-sensei as backup." Hanabi pointed out.

The aged hermit nodded. "Yes, so it means that Itachi didn't succeed in wiping out the Akatsuki completely. Most likely he's pursued, injured, or worse, even dead. Only way to find out is to go to the place he specified in the message."

"But why… did Itachi ask _me_ to be his backup?" Sakura said, still sounding like she had difficulty believing these new and sudden revelations.

Itachi was acting orders when he killed Sasuke's entire clan? He was acting orders when he asked Sasuke to take revenge on him? Then everything… Sasuke… Kakashi… Naruto… Team Seven… the breakings of their friendship, the source of all of their misery… it was all because of… something else?

"That I don't know." Jiraiya admitted as he leaned a little bit forward. "That's what I wanted to ask you, Sakura. Did you have a relationship with Itachi?"

The question caught her off guard. "Me, have a relationship with Itachi?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm asking you. Oh, I didn't mean anything… well, sexual, but I was wondering if you had like, maybe, a contract, sort of master-and-student type relationship before he left the village. It's not uncommon for a ANBU member to take up a child student."

"…Well Sakura?" Tsunade asked, joining in the conversation. "If you did, it's not like you'll be punished for it. You did nothing wrong."

"I don't know Itachi. Honest." She said, a hard look on her face.

"It is possible that he has sealed your memory before he has left." Tsunade suggested.

Sakura was on the verge of hysterics. "…No… no way, I don't believe this… I won't accept…!"

"Hey now, calm down girl." The hermit turned to the old woman. "You're assuming too much Tsunade. There are other possibilities of course."

"Other possibilities?" This time it was Hanabi who asked the question.

"We always have to assume the possibility that this might be a trap." Jiraiya said. "Sakura is the only one who has free-reign over the passage through the dungeon Naruto is sealed in, and, according to Itachi, the Akatsuki only needs him to complete the 'collection' of the tailed demons. So it is possible that they are trying to get hands on your teacher to figure out a way inside to finish their job." Another pause. Jiraiya shifted uncomfortably. "I still don't know why they are collecting such things, but whatever the reason may be it can't be good."

"Then again," Jiraiya continued. "Itachi might have asked Sakura simply because she's the only one left from Naruto's team. It could be that Itachi might be trying to protect Naruto from the grasps of the Akatsuki and to prevent them from accomplishing their objective, and since Sakura is the only one left who is in contact with Naruto, she might be the most capable and trustful member left inside the Hidden Leaf."

"That really didn't make much sense, Jiraiya." Tsunade said from the side.

"I know." He sighed. "There are still lots of questions left unanswered, but we have little facts and, most importantly, we have little time. From the way Itachi said '_Time is short, haste will be appreciated.'_, it's obvious urgency is stressed. If he is being pursued I doubt he can be on the run for much longer, genius he may be."

Tsunade nodded, and turned her attention to her apprentice. "Sakura, Hanabi. This is your mission. Go meet Itachi in the location he specified, and bring him back to the Hidden Leaf for questioning. Hanabi will act as Sakura's backup just in case it is a trap. If he is unable or unwilling to return to the Hidden Leaf, interrogate him as much as you can and kill him if you can see an opportunity. If you can't, then just run. Stay alive. Understand?"

"I understand, Hokage-sama." Hanabi replied, a shimmer of determination in her eyes eager to undertake her first ever S-Ranked mission.

"I understand, Shishou-sama… but…" Sakura stuttered, her eyes focused on the piece of paper she clenched in her hands.

"What is it, Sakura?"

"…I read this over carefully…" She sat the paper down on the low wooden table. "…There something that doesn't make any sense."

This got both of the Sennin's attention. "Hmm?" Jiraiya mumbled as he leaned forward so he was now above the paper.

"This code here." Sakura pointed towards the squiggles located in the bottom of the paper.

_**nu ptfrt pg yjr gpityj jplshr**_

"What about it?" Jiraiya asked. "It's authentic. I recognize the style of writing and only a few people among the Leaf can identify the style and its importance."

"I don't doubt you, Jiraiya-sama, but the contents… here." She pointed towards a single letter, then another.

Jiraiya instantly recognized the error he made. "…My god."

"Sakura? Jiraiya? What is going on?" Tsunade asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

Jiraiya shifted a little to the left to offer Tsunade a better view of the code. "See the third word here, Tsunade?"

"You mean this one?" Tsunade pointed.

_**pg**_

"Care to guess what it says?"

Tsunade scowled. "Do you take me for a fool? It says 'of', right?"

"Exactly. Now guess what this says." Jiraiya pointed his finger towards another word.

_**gpityj**_

Tsunade gave it some thought. "Well, seeing that the first letter is the same as the second letter of the word you pointed towards earlier, that is an 'f'. The next one is 'o' since that's the same too, so that means…" She trailed off.

Jiraiya nodded when it looked like Tsunade finally got it. "Sakura, good job in spotting it. I stopped reading when I simply recognized the second word and the last: 'order' and 'Hokage'. I had assumed that it came from the Third since Itachi went missing-nin during his reign, but…"

"This… code here…" Tsunade muttered disbelievingly. "It doesn't say '_By order of the Third Hokage'_."

"Correct Tsunade. It says…"

'_By order of the Fourth Hokage'. _

* * *

After seeing the two kunoichi's off through the gates of the Village despite the astonishing revelation that Itachi was acting under orders of the Fourth, the current Hokage and her loyal friend walked side-by-side back to the tower.

"Jiraiya… there's something else isn't there?" Tsunade suddenly asked.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Don't play innocent with me, old man. It's obvious you know more than you're letting on."

Jiraiya broke into an uneasy laugh. "And what makes you think that?"

"You said nothing back there because you didn't want to say it in front of her."

His laugh downgraded into an uneasy grin. "Sharp as always."

Tsunade sighed. "…She is incredibly similar, isn't she?"

"…So is that why you chose her as your apprentice after you swore you would never take another, Tsunade?"

"…Perhaps."

"Still can't let it go, huh? Your brother, Nawaki… your boyfriend, Dan… and your first apprentice…"

"………"

"Two and a half decades, Tsunade. Don't you think it's time to let it go?"

"Don't try to change the subject Jiraiya."

"Hey now, you're the one who started-"

A glare.

"Fine, I'll shut up."

"Tell me then."

"About what?"

Another glare.

"Fine. So let's list up facts that we know then."

"Fine."

"One, Itachi is somehow connected to Sakura. How, I don't know exactly. Maybe your earlier theory about Itachi being Sakura's master when she was a child and then erased her memory might be right. True or not, we can't ignore the fact that he asked for her as backup, so they share some sort of missing link."

"Go on."

"Two, your first apprentice was Itachi's master when she was ANBU commander."

"…I never heard this."

"Of course you didn't, you already left the village by then. So since your first apprentice and Sakura are so similar in looks, it is very much possible that Itachi was taken by Sakura and so took her in, which, reinforces your earlier theory. But I think there's another possibility we can't ignore. Having discovered just now that the Fourth was the one who issued Itachi his order only reinforces this possibility. The Fourth and your apprentice were husband and wife after all."

"And that is?"

"Have you ever considered, Tsunade," Jiraiya asked carefully. "That Sakura and your first apprentice…

The rest of his voice was drowned out by a sudden gust of wind.

It was as if nature itself didn't want the truth to be revealed to the outside world.

* * *

The two returned to the village eight hours later.

It was a frightening and odd scene. Sakura was splattered in blood, her face aghast. Upon closer inspection it was revealed that the blood on her Jounin uniform was not hers; it was someone else's. Meanwhile, Sakura's student, Hanabi, was trailing after her teacher with tears in her eyes. It was highly unusual to see the Hyuuga girl crying, and even odder when her voice revealed she was pleading with her teacher.

"…Sensei! Sakura-sensei! Please… please… forgive me! I didn't mean…! I never…"

Sakura pushed her away and left the broken girl crying to herself in the ground as she emotionlessly marched to the Hokage Tower to report on their success of the mission.

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Tsunade asked the moment Sakura walked into her office. "Hanabi's out there desperately pleading for your forgiveness while you're standing there with a expressionless face like Sai's while being covered from head to toe with blood that's not your own!"

"…That is because I expelled her."

"…What did you say?"

"Hanabi was a spy."

"…A _what_?"

"Exactly what I said, Shishou-sama. Hanabi was a spy sent from Hyuuga Hiashi to keep watch over me. It was Itachi who told me that."

"…And just how did Itachi know that?"

"I don't know either. He just knew. He told me to do something to confirm it. I did… and her reaction was obvious. I interrogated her and she confessed that she was sent from Hiashi to spy on me."

"…Why would Hiashi… no, wait, before that, where is Itachi?"

"He is dead."

"Did you kill him?"

"When I rendezvoused with him in the forest outside the Town of Inns, he was already close to death. Like Jiraiya-sama predicted, the one remaining member he failed to eliminate from the organization was pursuing him. Some missing-nin from the Stone… Deidara I think was his name."

Tsunade racked through her memories for the name. "…Didn't he kill himself during the Kazekage Retrieval mission like ten years ago?"

Sakura shrugged. "Guess not. Most likely a clone… anyway, Deidara was attacking Itachi when we found them, and I tried to join in the fight but I knew it was too late to save him. That's when he caught me in the Mangekyo Sharingan."

"Mangekyo Sharingan…" Tsunade muttered. "The Uchiha's…"

Sakura went on. "Just before his death, he caught me in the illusionary world he called 'Tsukiyomi' and in there he told me everything he knew. He also told me… about myself."

"…About… you?"

"Inside the illusionary world he told me that I was capable of using a technique the Hyuuga clan kept secret called the _sekka soushou_ – the 'petrifaction spear palm', otherwise known as the Medusa Javelin. The concept is simple, really. You only had to collect healing chakra on your fists and strike the enemy hard with it. Just like giving too much water will wither a plant, the technique uses that same principle and accelerate the healing process so much that the strike will create a biological shock inside the victims body that will turn their organic materials into stone. It is a difficult technique that requires precise control, knowledge of the healing arts and brute strength – but he also told me there is something else. Either way, Shishou-sama, my first kill… that time, it was an accident, but I had unknowingly used the Medusa Javelin."

Sakura paused momentarily to reminisce on the incident before she continued. "When Itachi's illusion broke, he was immediately killed on the spot by Deidara, then the man moved into to kill me. He was injured too so it was a battle I could fight with relative ease, and so during the confrontation I used the Medusa Javelin on Deidara to petrify his arm. Using his surprise as advantage I stabbed him with my knife through his heart. The blood I have on me is his. I looked back at Hanabi and I could tell she was surprised that I used that technique. I don't know why Hiashi would send her to keep watch on me to see if I could use the Medusa Javelin or not… but when I questioned her she admitted she even didn't know. Either way it was something that I couldn't tolerate. That is why I expelled her."

"You know it's not Hanabi's fault…"

Sakura smiled sadly. "…I know. Give me a few days to calm down and I'll probably forgive her. I know she is a good girl at heart."

Tsunade scratched her head. "…Still, why would Itachi know about such a technique…?"

"…I…" She looked as if she was about to say something, but she stopped.

"Sakura?"

"…I… don't know…"

"You obviously do you know something, Sakura. Come on, spit it out. Itachi couldn't have possibly called you all the way out just so he can teach you a secret Hyuuga clan technique just before his death."

"He told me about the Akatsuki. Their objectives… and Naruto." She was shaking now. "He told me… told me that…!" Her emotionless mask collapsed and she started to break into tears. "He told me that… he…!"

"…Sakura."

"…Shishou-sama. Please… please… I just have check one thing… I have to make sure…"

* * *

"Hey Sakura-chan!"

"What is this?" She asked, startled. "It's almost like… a garden."

"Welcome to the garden closest to hell." He said sarcastically, of which her reaction was a deep frown. "By the way, Sakura-chan, what's that you're holding?"

It was unusual. Of all the times she came to visit him daily, this time she was carrying luggage.

"It's just for your medical checkup. I was ordered by Tsunade-sama."

"A medical checkup?" Naruto asked, startled. "I look healthy, don't I?" He waved his hands in a sweeping arc front of him as if to prove his point.

"But you're living in… well, here. Food too, the stuff they give you from the dumbwaiter is all canned, and the only meat or vegetables you're eating are the ones that I bring you. We're all worried for you. You've become taller and more like an adult, so Tsunade-sama asked me to check up on your health as well as your growth progress." As Sakura explained, she cooked out the contents of her bag. A few small pieces of strange machinery and many different varieties of medical tools and equipment were laid down in front of her. She then ordered him to lie down on his back, and as he followed her command she suddenly looked as if she remembered something.

"How long has it been? Since you were imprisoned." She asked.

"Eh?" Naruto racked his brain and he calculated the answer to her question. "Umm… about a year or so?"

"Ah, right." She said flatly before she returned her attention back to her medical tools.

"Sakura-chan, please don't tell me you've become senile already!"

_POW! _

"Idiot! I'm still young dammit! It's just been so busy these days, I've lost my sense of time."

"Owww…"

"I may not look like it, but I'm a capable medical ninja now thank you very much! Alright, show me your chest…"

She began handling her tools with professional ease as she started her checkup. The inspection lasted minutes, then dozens of minutes, then eventually rolled into hours.

"Umm, Sakura-chan?" He asked as she stuck a thermometer in his mouth.

"What?"

"Do you have to be so… um, through?"

"Yes."

She had listened and recorded his pulse rate, poked his skin with some sort of glass looking stick and had essentially massaged his entire body asking him if any parts she touched hurt. Naruto so would've enjoyed the 'checkup' she gave him if she didn't look so serious doing it. Instead, he was awed at how grown up she acted despite her youthful appearance. He was about to ask another question until he saw her hands going for the machinery. She then took a needle, gauze, and a tube. She was going to take some blood.

"Awww, that too?"

"Of course. Don't want to discover you sick but already too late. This is for your own good!" With that, she stuck the sharp needle in one of his veins in his arm and extracted blood. The red liquid made it's way through the tubes and into the small machine. It seemed the purpose of the machines were to record various data, as Sakura observed the output screens she scribbled a few things in her notebook with her pen. A few minutes later she shut it off and took the needle out, the gauze wiping his wound clean.

"Going to need some of your cells too."

"Cells? Ow!"

Sakura quickly plucked one of his hairs from his head. She stared at the blonde strand for a second, and then looked at Naruto. "Your hair grows slowly."

"Ah, now that you mention it, yeah. Always been like that, though."

She carefully tucked away the hair in a small plastic folder then stored it away in her medical bag. Cleaning her equipment, she put away the rest of the medical tools into her bag and with a little help from Naruto she was soon all done.

"Alright, one last thing." She said. "Mold a bit of your chakra, and let me see your stomach."

"Sakura-chan, you know about the seal?"

She nodded. "Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama taught me. Now lemee see them."

He took off his shirt and molded a bit of chakra. The previously invisible seal slowly started to illuminate itself, and Sakrua stared at it serious, prodding some parts of the seal with her fingers. "Hm, nothing seems to be wrong." She concluded.

Naruto put his shirt back on. "It'll be bad if it is, no?"

"…It's just…"

"Hm?"

"Well, I thought some parts of the seal were weakened, but it turns out its not at all."

He tapped his fist in front of his chest. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Even if the seal is gone, I'll hold him in place!"

Her lips twisted into a rather forced smile. "I'm counting on you."

There was nothing much to converse about today. After she was done with her checkup, she seemed fresh out of topics. They decided to call it a night early.

"Good night, Naruto."

"Good night, Sakura-chan."

* * *

"Well?"

Sakura handed Tsunade the strand of hair the moment she came out of the dungeon and into the basement of the Hokage Tower.

"Now will you tell me what's going on?" Tsunade asked her apprentice.

"…For years, I've been suspicious about something. About Naruto. Over the years, I noticed that I don't age that fast, but Naruto… he ages differently. Oh, he's changed all right, but still… he seems slower still. And also…" The pink-haired woman stuttered, and then grew quiet.

"Oh for god's sakes." Tsunade threw both of her hands up in the air. "I'm not a psychic Sakura. Don't make me send you to Torture and Interrogation just so I can force the story out of you!"

Looking hesitant, Sakura finally opened her heavy mouth. "The Akatsuki's objectives were… to achieve immortality."

"…Immortality?"

"The tailed beasts… they do not die. So the Akatsuki theorized that Jinchuuriki, with the tailed beasts sealed in them, in addition to having possession of great chakra and ability, will be given the gift of living forever."

"Sakura… are you saying that…"

"…That Naruto might not die? Yes."

"………"

"For the longest time… I had suspected… but when I preformed that checkup today, the evidence suggests and supports the theory. I don't think you really need to bother running through that strand of hair through the tests, it'll just show precise numbers just how slow Naruto ages."

"…For how long did you suspect this?"

"…Eight, nine years probably. The moment when Naruto couldn't start telling time."

"You mean he is not conscious about this?"

"No. Today, I asked him how long he think has passed since he was imprisoned. He thinks only it's only been a year or so."

"………"

"Shishou-sama."

"What is it, Sakura?"

"Can you teach me your technique… the one where you do not age?"

"…Are you sure?"

"…I don't want Naruto to see me age."

"…Fine. Do not tell anyone else about this, though. Especially not the council. They're going to scream bloody murder."

"I understand."

"One more thing, Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"You're still hiding me something, aren't you?"

"………"

Irritated, Tsunade dangerously narrowed her eyes. "Sakura…"

"There were many things I still wanted to ask from him, from Itachi." She said suddenly. "About why he became missing-nin, why did he kill Sasuke-kun's entire clan and why did he want to steal away Naruto. It may be all part of the mission… but still, there were still so many things I didn't understand. And when I asked him why… I saw him smile sadly, and before he died, he…"

* * *

"_Why, you bastard! Tell me!" _

"_I am sorry, but I cannot. It is something you must figure out for yourself." _

_She was crying now. "Dammit, you asshole! Don't leave me hanging like this!" _

"_You never change." _

"……_What?" _

_He smiled a sad smile. "It was nice seeing you one last time, Setsuka-sama." _

_The red world faded into oblivion. _

* * *

"Setsuka? He called you Setsuka? Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. Do you know who that is, Tsunade-sama?"

"No," Tsunade replied. "No, I don't, Sakura."

* * *

"_But I think there's another possibility we can't ignore." Jiraya was saying. "Having discovered just now that the Fourth was the one who issued Itachi his order only reinforces this possibility. The Fourth and your apprentice were husband and wife after all." _

"_And that is?" _

"_Have you ever considered, Tsunade." Jiraiya asked carefully. "That Sakura and your first apprentice… _

"_**The possibility that she and Setsuka are the same person?" **_

* * *

_**- Fourth Entry - **_

"_**Temperance" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Thirteenth year. February 20th. _

_25 years old. Year 10 of Imprisonment. _

_It was the day my suspicions turned into confirmation. _

_It has been 10 years now, and Naruto's changed quite a bit, and he became quite the adult. I thought it was amazing for such growth to take place in an environment where normal humans would already have gone insane from pure isolation. For years I have been suspicious about something concerning Naruto, and today I decided to check. _

_I have been visiting the dungeon for years now, but I had always thought strange that the flowers were constantly in full-bloom, even out of season. I had thought that this was one the reasons his sense of time is askew. I lied to Naruto saying that I was performing a medical checkup on him and collected some data. What I wanted to know was about Naruto's growth and his process of aging. I had brushed the thought aside for the longest time at first thinking it had to do something with his natural hereditary genes, but I can no longer ignore it. I checked it over with Tsunade-sama as we studied his cells taken from his hair, and we reached a conclusion. Naruto's growth was indeed slower than that of a normal human being. According to these calculations, he would not age even a year when I had already died from natural causes. Just in case I also checked the seals on Naruto that sealed the Kyuubi. No change. _

_According to further analysis, it seems the DNA levels of Naruto and the Kyuubi had merged. If he had done this unwillingly or unconsciously, I don't know. I concluded that this was the reason why he has an askew sense of time. _

_A footnote: Naruto thinks only a year has passed since he has been imprisoned. _

_I had asked Tsunade-sama to teach me her jutsu that kept her youthful form in exchange for me staying quiet about the discovery. She agreed. I decided I would use that jutsu permanently. I did not want Naruto to see me age._

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

Longest chapter to date. Just means that much more mistakes to fix. Bleah. Again, yes, this is a first-draft edition of the chapter, and yes, there are probably a few plot holes and grammatical mistakes. Hopefully minor ones. I just wanted to put this up as fast as possible to satisfy the curiosity of my readers. Oh how I wished I had a beta. Oh wells. Expect a revision of this chapter in a few days. I always seem to find errors better once the story is up in the net for some strange reason.

I have to give my thanks to two people for making this chapter possible. Firstly, I give my many thanks to Sh33p, for his permission for me to use the many ideas inspired from his Naruto fanfiction "Catch 22". The original ideas for the battle scene between Hanabi and Konohamru and many others scattered throughout this chapter belongs to him.

Secondly, I give my sincere thanks to Desmond Morris, author of the book "Manwatching" for giving me the idea for the introduction scene in this chapter. For me, the hardest part about writing fanfiction is the beginning, and once I get going it's pretty much smooth sailing from there. Without his brilliant descriptions and facts about animal behaviors and such, this chapter most likely would've have taken twice the amount of time to finish.

While writing this chapter, I noticed that, without really giving it too much thought, I was killing off at least one or two characters from the canon Naruto storyline each chapter. I am sorry to say this, but expect this trend to continue: there _will_ be major character death. This is going to be especially true the next chapter – for previous readers of "Garden of Sanctuary", I think you all can figure out what this means.

Till then!

- Nes Mikel


	5. Fortitude

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_However… these memories generate suffering…" _

* * *

_**- Fifth Entry - **_

"_**Fortitude"**_

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Eighteenth year. April 2nd. _

_30 years old. _

* * *

A wall of blinding heat. Bone-crushing light. The immovable, thunderous roar.

Hell was erupting all around her.

The explosion had wrenched from where she hid and flung her out into the open clearing of the otherwise dark forest. Her body rebounded against the dirt ground only to end up colliding headfirst against a solid trunk of a tree. The impact left her with a sharp pain on her forehead where the diamond-shaped purple seal was engraved, leaving her little doubt that she was bleeding profoundly from that new wound.

Not good.

At the very least her limbs were still attached to her body. She felt her arms locked around her head and her knees were clenched against her chest – an instinctive reaction – but she quickly found out that she couldn't move them. The skin on her face felt as if it was burning. And there was no doubt that the flash of light had blinded her. She hoped to the gods that it wasn't permanent. She opened her mouth to breath in but no air reached her lungs.

This wasn't good _at all_.

Screaming in her mind not to panic, she tried to force her eyes open to at least assess the current situation. She couldn't see a damn thing. She blinked and squinted, and after god knows how many times she realized that she could manage to see from the corner of her watering eyes. When the images registered in her brain Sakura immediately regretted she even tried to open them. Her vision had welcomed in a gruesome sight – the torn hands, the severed feet, the arms and the legs, the bodies, the dead, the causalities – the consequences of war. It took everything she had to resist the urge to cry out. No matter how many times she had seen it, it was one of those things she could never, ever, get used to.

Allowing herself some time to calm down, she pacified her initial shock as her bodily functions slowly submitted themselves to her control. She gasped as her lungs finally allowed passage to much-needed oxygen. Although the ordeal couldn't have lasted more than thirty seconds, she felt as if it were years since she breathed.

Suppressing a groan, she attempted to right herself up only to fall right back down on the ground. The wound on her forehead had probably shaken her up quite badly. Her forehead protector… where was it? Had she had that on the proper spot she wouldn't feel this dizzy. Damn wound. Damn forehead. Damn it, damn it all.

She slowly turned her head from one side to the other, trying her best to ignore the deceased as she scanned the nearby forest floor. Her blurred vision then spotted a strip of rectangle that could be her protector lying not too far away. Ignoring the protest of her own body she mustered as much willpower as she could to command herself to slowly crawl over to the object. There was no way she could lose that protector. It was the forehead protector Naruto once wore; the protector Naruto gave her.

Another explosion ripped through the ground not too far away from her. The shockwave launched Sakura into the air and threw her off course from her precious item. When it passed, she was shaken but undeterred, ignoring the new stab of pain that screamed her from her right waist as she continued. Her outstretched arm lashed out, grabbing the metal and cloth from the seemingly distant dreamy landscape. When she pulled it close, she turned the protector over and startled herself by staring into her own warped reflection in the dull silver metal of the protector. She studied the image of her own battered self for a moment, allowing herself time to reminisce on what her older self would've thought of her now.

She was no longer young, but she still retained the appearance of her prime through a special jutsu only she and Tsunade knew. It was a subtle but clear indication to the outside world that they hated aging, and would fight it out until the end, kicking and screaming all the way. But now – that false youth appearance of hers – was battered, broken, and almost… deathly. The irony was laughable, if she could have laughed, that is. She stared at the image a little while longer before raising her tired arms and tied the symbol of the Leaf around her head again.

Her simple yet difficult task done, she rewarded herself by breathing in another batch of air. The dry, sterile air smelled sweet of springtime rain but tasted like blood. It still hurt to breath. She didn't need to be a medical ninja to know that one of her ribs was probably broken. She continued to lie on her back for a moment before turning her head over to the side and blankly looked at her previous hiding spot. It used to be a small medical shack she operated on the front lines to treat the wounded. Although she was relatively close to the front lines she had confidence that she wouldn't be attacked – the brunt of the battle was taking place quite far away from where she operated, and, as insurance, she had camouflaged the tent using some semi-complex Genjutsu just in case.

She never expected the main battleground move to where she was.

She tried her best to evacuate the wounded. She was met with some success, but the harsh reality was that some of her patients didn't make it. Heck, she should've considered herself lucky that she was still alive when the explosion tore through the entire tent. She attempted to stagger up to her knees. She needed to get as far away from here as quickly as possible. There was no telling when the next explosive jutsu would be coming her way.

She sensed the foreign presence almost immediately. Alarmed, she sharply turned towards the right expecting the worst. The explosion that killed her patients was most definitely not friendly, and Sakura wondered if they were here to finish the job. What she saw beneath the bright shifting overgrowth, however, was not her enemy. Moving in utmost stealth and grace, a dark figure silently jumped down from the branches and crouched down in front of her.

"I already took care of your assailant. You alright?"

Oh how she wished she had the strength to slap him senseless right now. "…What… does it look like?" She replied, her voice in tatters.

"So you're okay then."

"…Sai… fuck you…"

"As much as I would love to make do with someone like you, this is not the place nor time."

Sakura didn't know if she should be happy or angry that the ill-mannered commander of the ANBU had for once acknowledged her looks. Granted, the contents were laced with sarcasm, so staying angry would probably have been the better choice.

"…Why are you… here anyway…?" Sakura questioned, her voice still shaky. "You should… be… assaulting the fortress… not caring for your… sub-commander…"

His face was indifferent. "We already have assaulted the fortress, Sakura."

She hated it when he called her on a familiar basis. "…Don't… you dare… call me like…"

"Like I said, this is not the place nor time." Sai cut her off and offered her a gloved hand. "Can you stand?"

Sakura nodded weakly, although she doubted if she could stand up like she claimed. She grasped the hand and rolled onto her feet. Sai handed her a small round pill. _Hyourougan. _Soldier pills. She took the supplement and gulped it down her throat. A soft, pinkish glow surrounded her body as the chakra stored in the food slowly started to integrate into her systems.

"Better?" Sai offered.

"…Yeah."

Strength was flowing through her already. They were like adrenalin shots, only better. Some versions were quite addictive through. She reminded herself to one day get rid of that flaw in the medicine. Sakura opened and closed both of her fists to rid herself of the sluggish feeling in her fingers.

"Not using the s_ouzou saisei?_" He asked.

"Rather not… where is Hanabi?"

"Letting your apprentice doing the healing for you?"

Her eyebrows creased, a clear sign of irritation. "_Souzou saisei_ – genesis rebirth is dangerous, Sai. If I can get other methods of treatment then I wi-" She suddenly coughed, red blood escaping from her lips. Trickles of new pain washed throughout her body. She crouched low, clutching her side. "Shit…"

Sai was besides her in an instant, offering and supporting her with his shoulder without even asking. "Very well. I'll take you to Hanabi."

"…Thank you."

It was one of the very few times when Sakura had genuinely thanked him.

* * *

Tsunade woke up with a start and noticed two things immediately. One, she cursed herself for letting her guard down in front of that bastard – she should've known that idiot man would pull off some macho stunt like that. And two – her hands and legs were bound to the chair she sat in by tight medical wires reinforced with chakra. She instantly recognized the chakra works.

"…Are you awake, Tsunade-sama?" The culprit's voice drifted to her ears.

Her head rose to meet the voice. "Shizune." Tsunade spat out.

The black-haired apprentice of the Fifth Hokage looked regretful. "I'm sorry." She said.

"If you are sorry, then you will untie me _now_!"

"I cannot."

"You _will!_" Tsunade yelled. "I am issuing a direct order as the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf to _untie me this instant!_"

Shizune's head hung low. Droplets of water started to hit the ground. Tears. "I-I'm sorry… I cannot… I can't…"

Tsunade squeezed her eyes shut, shutting herself away from the emotional spill. She considered yelling outside of her help, but being inside the hastily build but durable command center located in the heart of Sound Country to lead their final assault, she doubted if anyone could hear her voice with the soundproof seals embedded in the four walls. Even if she wanted to resort to good old brute strength Shizune had paralyzed her muscles with her needles and wires by applying the right pressure points. Her options were limited and there was only one solution to her immediate problem. And she didn't like it, not one bit. Especially not if it was forced like this. She opened her eyes again.

"…Shizune?"

"Yes?" Shizune's voice was quiet like a mouse. She was probably afraid of further verbal lashes from her master.

"Situation."

"…Pardon?"

"Report me the goddman situation I said!" Tsunade yelled, loose in her temper.

"A-ah! Yes!" Ever the clumsy one, she hurriedly scuttled to the nearby wooden desk and scooped up a stack of loose papers, full of notes and scribbles reporting the situation around the battlefield. She picked up one such scroll full of those reports and began to read out loud. "Um, okay. Most of the ANBU squad reports indicate that the simultaneous attacks against the final strongholds of Sound were met with success. Squad 'Ri' led by Captain Shiranui Genma and Vice-Captain Akimichi Ino report that Base Six is secure but resulted in causalities of one Leaf Jounin and the entire Genin Team Thirty-two that were acting as the supply and medical lines during the assault.

"Squad 'Re' led by Captain Hyuuga Tenten and Vice-Captain Aburame Shino, collaborating with the Wind's ANBU Squad 'Chi" with Sand Jounin Nara Temari as acting commander report success on capturing Base Nine, Thirteen, Fourteen and Nineteen, along with the complete destruction of Base Four. In the case of Base Four the enemy had self-detonated the fortress before they surrendered. They report causalities are heavy – among the deceased are Leaf Jounins Kamizuki Izumo, Yamashiro Aoba, Tobitake Tonbo, Inuzuka Tsume and Inuzuka Hana. Also reported are the destructions of three four-man cell Chuunin teams from the Leaf, two four-man cell Chuunin teams from the Sand, six three-man cell Genin teams from the Leaf and nine four-man cell Genin teams from the Sand…"

"Shit." Tsunade cursed. That was a lot of good men and women's lives lost. She knew a lot of them personally too.

"…Tenten-san is offering her resignation as the Captain of the 'Re' ANBU Squad." Shizune reported, sadly.

Tsunade scowled. "Request denied. What of the 'Ru' Squad on Base Seven?"

"As expected, it was a trap." Shizune answered. "Causalities are, yet again, heavy, and both Captain Mitarashi Anko and Vice-Captain Umino Iruka are reported missing in action."

Tsunade cursed again. They knew the risks. But the squad led by the two Jounins was too stubborn. Anko and Iruka both held personal vendettas against the Sound, and they always volunteered for the most dangerous missions. She hoped at least one of them were still alive.

"Tsunade-sama…" Shizune looked at her worriedly.

"Just go on with the report, dammit. Before I change my mind."

Shizune nodded and dutifully submitted to her master's request. "…The survivors of the 'Ru' squad report that they only managed get through the ambush alive thanks to Squad 'Tsu' from the Wind. They were led by the Kazakage himself and came to their assistance when they sent the distress flare. They report that the traitor Yakushi Kabuto are among the killed."

So it wasn't a total loss at Base Seven, then.

There was still one lingering problem through.

"Shizune."

"Yes?"

"You were in the middle of reporting me the situation of Orochimaru's main fortress - Base One." Tsunade said. "Before you and Jiraiya decided to tie me up into this _chair_." She stressed the word, making sure the displeasure was noted.

"…Yes."

"What of that?"

She was hesitating. "Um, well…"

Tsunade was never a patient woman. "Just tell me goddamnit!" She exploded.

"Y-yes… I was in the middle of the report of the attack launched by the 'Ro' squad. Under Sai and Sakura, they were successful in penetrating the defenses of Base One and we have had reports that Orochimaru had been seen fleeing the scene. Uhm… was that right?"

Yes, that was. Which was precisely the reason why she wanted to get out of this scruffy place and put and end to Orochimaru herself once and for all. Which was also the reason why she was tied to this stupid chair because Jiraiya had knocked her out cold when she was about to step foot outside the Commanding Tent, and most likely went after Orochimaru himself after convincing her very own apprentice to not untie her until one of them were dead. Great. Just great.

"Well, what happened to them?"

That, however, Tsunade soon found out – much to her worry and discomfort – was something Shizune could not answer. Nobody knew what fate befell the eternal rivals Jiraiya and Orochimaru, the Hermits of Frog and Snake. Nor did anyone knew what happened to Sai and Sakura, the two ANBU Commanders who had been partners for over ten years – who were also the best of the best the Hidden Leaf had to offer in strength and quality. It wasn't like they just simply disappeared after the assault; it was just that the battlefield was so chaotic out there _nobody_ knew what precisely was going on anymore. In fact, there was a high likelihood of chance that the reports Shizune read out were wrong. It would take days, maybe even weeks or months, to actually sort through this mess of a war and write a clear report that was actually accurate. Heck, maybe even _years_. What they had in here were merely scraps of information hastily woven together in a form of a scroll.

The only thing she could do was wait. And she didn't like waiting at all.

* * *

The warning had come just in time. It helped that everything in the place was flame-resistant – he would have to check up on that later on how the hell the Sound-nins managed to pull _that _off – so after the initial blast there was no fire. Nevertheless, it was a bad moment. The blast knocked them both off their feet. Hot debris, the heat generated from intense friction, rained upon them. It was a big piece of something, perhaps once part of the structure, and soared past overhead only to slam into another sound structure. The resulting sonic noise was deafening.

"Close one there." His partner muttered besides him.

He shot off a quick reply. "Thanks." The least you say to the person who just saved your life by pushing you out of harm's way. Then he turned his head skyward, from where the attack had come. He found not a trace of the attacker anymore.

"He is gone." The voice came from the side, its tone grim.

At first, Iruka did not reply. He couldn't comment. How could he? They just let Orochimaru slip out of their grasp. "Let's believe Jiraiya-sama would take care of him." He eventually said. "Have Faith."

"Sorry, but Faith is something that I gave up long time ago, Iruka." Anko said.

"…Do you want to go after them?"

"You know the answer to that."

He did. They wouldn't go after them. The two Sennins were on a whole different level. He knew that fighting alongside Jiraiya, or even simply watching the battle, would prove itself a distraction for the Toad Hermit. They knew they shouldn't burden the old man if they wanted him to win. They would only get in the way if they helped. The realization only made things more difficult.

The rest of their allies arrived within minutes and started to pick up the injured and any enemy survivors they felt were strong enough to go under the hands of the torture-master. Other units showed up and sprayed water and chemicals to prevent the possibility of a fire on what remained of codename Base Sixteen, the base where they had originally perused and fought Orochimaru before Jiraiya showed up and interrupted their fight with the evil overlord. Actually, more like saved them from impending doom, Iruka realized. Never before had he hated himself for being so weak. He was sure Anko felt the same. Looking at her, he realized that she had been clutching her neck. The cursed seal was acting up again.

"Anko-san. You okay?"

"Yes." She hissed. "Just fucking peachy, thank you."

It was her subtle way of saying no.

The building was demolished. It was in smoking ruin, signified by the large cloud of smoke forming overhead. As they slowly walked away from the building to see the entirety of the base, his first thought was that there had to be at least twenty or thirty dead. Even the late arrivals were staggering around in a daze. Everyone was in shock, no doubt doubting their own eyes and the awesome display of power they had witnessed take place here.

Iruka soon found out that when he had dodged the debris he twisted his knee and collected a couple of burns. Nothing major, fortunately, but it hurt. Anko started complaining her jacket was torn, something Iruka didn't want to hear from a woman who was so scantly clad. But otherwise, she seemed okay. Even her curse seal started to recede, no doubt thanks to the distance Orochimaru now put himself in between him and her.

The place was boiling with confusion, people – mostly young, inexperienced Genins – screaming and crying, searching for friends, tying to figure out a way home, asking one another what had happened. Amidst the confusion, he found a familiar face. It was one of his students from so long ago: Udon.

"Iruka-fukutaichou." He said, wide eyed.

Iruka waved his palm in front of him, a dismissive gesture. "Please, Iruka-sensei is fine. It feels weird when you call me like that."

"Right. Sensei, it is a relief to find you here. We feared the worst when we have had reports that you and Anko-taichou went missing after the attack on Base Seven."

Iruka glanced back at Anko, but she ignored him. He turned back to Udon and sighed. "Yes, well, my apologizes."

"Care to elaborate on what happened?"

He expected that question. "Simple version, after we defeated Kabuto with Kazekage's help, Orochimaru showed up and trashed the place. We went after him and pursued him here. Fought him, then Jiraiya-sama showed, words were exchanged, and the two started fighting. They have since moved off. Still fighting, I would suppose."

Iruka could see Udon looked a little skeptical. Most likely thinking that there was more to his story than that.

The truth was that was all there was to it. Yes, they should've stayed behind and helped the survivors of his squad after the hell they went through, but Orochimaru was something personal to both him and his female captain. If it weren't for him, his famous student of all time would never have been imprisoned in the dungeons far below the Hokage Tower. And for Anko, she was forever Orochimaru's prisoner, bound eternal to the chains of the cursed seal. She could never truly be free until he was dead. But even with their combined efforts, Orochimaru swatted them away like two annoying insects.

Udon's skepticism faded away from his eyes as Iruka explained a little more. Iruka, nudging his ever-so reluctant captain in the gut with his elbow, moved towards to the ruins and assist Udon and his team in the painstaking but needed-to-be done cleanup work.

* * *

Sakura once told her students that one's perspective on a lot of things changes once you get the idea that somebody's out to kill you. It's bad enough, she supposed, if you were caught up in a war and they want to take you out just because you're wearing the wrong forehead protector. But when the situation comes down to where you're a personal first-name up-close target, not to mention accompanied with an even more so high-profile figure, you just didn't rest well anymore. Knowing that she was carried bridal-style in the arms of someone you detested was no help, either.

Sakura closed her eyes and focused on herself. Breath in, and out. In, and out. The only sounds she could hear were the winds and the rustle of leaves as Sai tirelessly carried her through the thick forest and back to Konoha. Hanabi, as it turned out, was running the hospital back home, and Sai had no idea where her other two apprentices were. Besides, the war was almost over, and Sai convinced Sakura to return to Konoha to recuperate and rest before she herself tackled the task of tending to the injured who were going to be shipped home. She opened her eyes again. It was nearing nightfall, and the distant golden stars were slowly illuminating themselves in the burning red sky.

Right now, she was weak. Even with the boost the _hyourougan_ provided her, she could not move as she wanted, and left herself little choice but to accept Sai's offer to carry her across the landscape. She could only wait within the comfort (and disgust) of Sai's arms. It felt like years passed already.

Slowly, Sakura grew aware of a general brightness that filled the sky. For a moment, she thought that the sun was just setting and choking out the last rays of its light, but then the distant sound of explosion soon followed. She heard Sai mutter a tsk. Enemies. Sound ninjas. Close by.

Sai came to a stop and carefully sat her next to a truck of a tree before he withdrew a kunai from a pouch attached to his uniform. "Stay here." He said.

"To hell with it. I don't need pampering." She replied as she struggled to get up. He shook his head but didn't protest. He knew better.

From another pouch, he withdrew a scroll and skillfully broke the paper seal as he unrolled it carefully in front of him. With his kunai, he punctured his thumb and let the blood flow freely from his wound. He placed his thumb on the blank papers of the scroll, and skillfully drew several pictures using his blood as ink. His signature technique, the _choujuu giga. _

Four blood-color lions soon manifested out of the scroll and prowled around. Each of them sprinted off in different directions, scouting the position of the enemies as they went by. Two lions never got the chance to take even a dozen steps before it exploded in a puddle of red. Sakura managed to catch the glimmer of two metals, needle thin, passing through the counterfeit animals before succumbing to their grimly fate. _Senbon needles_, Sakura realized. The enemies were close. Sakura patted the pouches stitched in her own clothes and silently cursed. She had nothing to use as a weapon.

"There are at least two." Sai whispered under his breath, loud enough for Sakura to hear but quiet enough to avoid being overheard by the enemy. "We will attack swiftly. Use my scroll. When I signal, activate the remaining contents. You could do that much, right?"

"Hn." She grunted her acknowledgement.

Having been partners in ANBU for over ten years, the two of them shared an awkward but professional relationship. The confided each other in improving their strength and speed, and taught a few advanced techniques to each other. Although Sakura was nowhere near good when it came to using Sai's _choujuu giga_, she could at the very least activate the drawings and manifest them into shape provided it was written in Sai's blood. It was a common tactic they used, since the enemy always expected only Sai to use the technique of the ink and all-too often underestimated her own capabilities.

"Go."

Sakura quickly surged forward and snatched the scroll away from the ground. She jumped, quietly landing on the branches above – or at least, she tried to. When she landed on the branch a pulse of pain shot through her legs. Stubborn and determined to not let this get in her way, she grit her teeth and reclaimed her balance. She felt the presence of Sai nearby, using simple body flicker techniques in order to move in speeds invisible to the naked eye. Then his presence vanished. That was the signal. Tightening one of her hands into a fist, she used her other to form a simple one-hand seal as she spread out the scroll out in the air.

"Ninpou: _Choujuu Giga, Gaiden_!"

The scroll glowed a bright red as the rest of the lions emerged from the scroll. A ferocious roar sounded before they dispersed into a single direction, chasing enemy chakra signatures. She counted ten lions before she decided it was wise to hide her presence amidst the chaos of distraction. She faked a body flicker to fool the enemy that she had moved elsewhere, but instead she retreated deeper into the leaves of the tree.

Metallic flickers soared through the forest ground as the enemy ninjas threw the acupuncture needles at the counterfeit animals out for their blood. Sakura didn't miss the locations of the origins this time. She saw three of them, all tall, clad in camouflage uniforms. Two of them were behind shrubs carrying large bags – supplies, she guessed – in close proximity to each other. The third one was actually near Sakura's current position and was hidden inside the entwined branches of the tree next to her. Her fake body flicker had worked. She had confidence that the enemy ninja hadn't spotted her.

Without warning, Sai's presence immediately reappeared. Sakura looked down in time to see Sai twisting in the air, aiming and throwing the kunai in the direction of the two Sound ninjas. His mark was true: a direct blow in the head and one of them was down. She looked up again and saw the surprised expression on the face of the third Sound ninja, and the ninja jumped out of his hiding spot to assist his comrades under attack. Sakura listened to the pounding of her own heart until she swung back into the open air of the forest and pounced on the third ninja from behind.

Perhaps her timing of emergence was bad. It seemed that the Sound ninja remembered Sai was accompanied by another, and so took a casual glace behind to see Sakura's attempt at a gravity and chakra-enhanced punch. He touched the ground first and immediately spun around and raised his needle weapons in the air, no doubt intent on making a target practice out of her.

Instinct shaped by experience took over. Sakura tucked her legs and twisted her torso to avoid the incoming barrage. The force imparted by her spin made her feet impossibly heavy. The muscles in her abdomen clenched and she choked down a painful yelp. She watched with clarity as the Sound nin released his cache weapons. She managed to avoid all but one as she felt a needle puncture through her lower-right calf muscle. Fresh blood gashed out of her leg when she hit the ground.

Using her willpower and blocking the pain in her head, she forced herself to act. She needed cover again. Before the Sound nin could throw a second barrage she forced her knees up to her chest and kicked off the ground and retreated backwards. Catching a branch and holding it with fingertips, she swung herself around the wood and shifted her momentum upward and disappeared into the sleek comforts of the cover the leaves provided. It would only buy her a second, but that was enough. Focusing chakra in her arms, she pushed herself down against the thick trunk and aimed for the enemy and erupted right back out. The enemy didn't look as if he expected this and clumsy released his third barrage. The needles passed centimeters above her.

In desperation, the enemy swung his arm down, but not in time; Sakura slammed headfirst into his chest. Surprisingly, he held his place, but not without damage. Blood dripping from his mouth, the enemy pulled a kunai out of his pouch and attempted to kick her in the thighs. Sakura recovered faster though, and grabbed him around his waist with one arm and caught the weapon in the other before he could bring it down towards her. She struggled with him, and she forced the weapon inwards toward his chest. Through he was no doubt trained, he was no match for her raw, desperate strength. The tip of the kunai touched the enemy's chest.

Sakura glanced up and looked into her enemy's eyes and nearly let go of him. It was as if his terror-stricken eyes told her everything he knew. Sakura could almost _see_ through his eyes the shouting and jumping around a playground, playing in the sandbox with his brothers, his father's burning, fierce pride on the event of his initiation into the ninja ranks, the awe he felt the first time he was assigned a mission outside of his native village. Sakura could almost _feel _the pounding of his heart mingled with her own, and his sudden shameful stab of doubt about whether the afterlife really existed. His back arched and his legs kicked her chest, desperate now.

Sakura shoved the kunai forward.

She heard his sharp cry, seemingly faraway. His eyes opened wide and fluttered, and before it began to glaze over Sakura turned her head away. She pulled the weapon out. A small river of blood gushed out through the fatal wound. She could see the strengths of his legs failing as he fell to his knees, and finally the entire body slumped into the ground.

"Not so bad, considering your current state." A voice behind her said.

She turned. It was Sai. He had already finished disposing the other and was rummaging through the supplies the enemy carried, looking for anything that proved useful. It didn't take him that long until he took something out of the bags and accurately tossed it into her hands. "Here."

It was a small medical kit. She bent down and unsealed her boot. Her calf throbbed and burned, and she saw a long cavity in her calf muscle when she rolled up the leg of her uniform to inspect the wound. She opened the medical kit and took strips of white bandages and wrapped it up around her injury. The pain was numb already, but for good measure she injected herself with painkillers. Sakura began to relax, and her thundering heart began to slow.

Her foul mood returned soon thereafter. If she wasn't injured in the first place, she could've taken down all three of them without breaking a sweat. Instead it took almost all of her effort to even put one down, and she even allowed herself to get injured yet again.

Sai soon finished with his plundering of the supplies. "Good work." He said. "I have to admit, I didn't see the third. He would've caught me by surprise."

Sakura nodded at the compliment and said nothing for a moment. Then, "Why were the Sound nins here?" She asked. "We're so far away from their bases now, why would they be here, so close to Konoha?"

Sai shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps maybe-"

"You are correct, ANBU Commander. It is because I ordered them all into a final assault."

A new voice sounded. A one she recognized.

She turned.

"It has been a while, hasn't it? _Sakura._"

Never would she forget that voice.

_Sakuke-kun… no… Orochimaru!_

* * *

Jiraiya groaned loudly once before he fully came to. He felt utterly uncomfortable and found that he could barely move. Then his head cleared, and he realized that he was indeed wedged into the dirt ground by at least a few good centimeters. That bastard had knocked him a good one.

He knew it was reckless to think that he could take on Orochimaru one on one. _If _he was at his prime, he was confident that he could match him blow to blow, but what made the difference now was that he was old, whereas Orochimaru retained his youth through his forbidden techniques by taking over the bodies of prodigies. And this newest body of his, the body of Uchiha Sasuke, was too damn powerful. With the Sharingan in his possession Orochimaru not only could predict his movements, but also capitalize on every single opportunity. In battle, what separated the winners from the losers were the numbers of mistakes he or she made: less mistakes, higher chance of victory. With the Sharingan now, Orochimaru _didn't _make mistakes anymore.

Well, except for one. And his gamble had worked.

The one thing, Jiraiya assumed, Orochimaru could _not_ predict was if the opponent was truly dead or not. It was dangerous but easy for someone like Jiraiya to fake a death after a seemingly critical blow to his chest. He shut off his chakra coils and went into deep trance, lowering his body temperature and stopping the beat of his heart. Jiraiya knew the bastard was overconfident, and so counted on Orochimaru to leave his body be after his 'death'. And so he did. Now that Orochimaru thought he was dead, the battle tipped to his favor. He would still need a few more minutes until the sluggish side effects that resulted from his temporary death wore off. He closed his eyes and expanded his mind, reaching out and searching for any nearby chakra signatures. Where was that bastard now? Might as well start planning a strategy before he regained his strength…

His eyes snapped back open when he found the signatures.

"Shit!"

He had detected the evil pulse of Orochimaru's chakra early enough, but Jiraiya soon found out that his adversary was entertaining 'guests'. Jiraiya recognized two other chakra signatures near Orochimaru, both of them familiar. And both of them pulsed weakly. He had no time to waste. Forcing the sluggishness out of his body, he stood up from the ground and dashed through the thick forests as fast as he could.

"Sai, Sakura. Don't you dare die on me…!"

* * *

"Sai…!" Sakura's worried voice echoed from far behind.

"Ku… dammit…"

"Hmph. What's wrong?" The Sasuke-Orochimaru hybrid in front of him said. "Surely, this couldn't be all there is to it to the two best ninjas in the Hidden Leaf. I have to say, I am disappointed in you two."

Such taunts were meaningless, but Sai knew better that this Snake Sannin was more than capable of carrying out his threats. The twisted man wouldn't settle for anything less. Which meant that petty attacks would have no effect on this man. He had to use the best if Sai wanted to even _scratch _the man. Sai bit both of his thumbs and let the blood flow freely through the air.

"I'll show you, then."

Orochimaru crooked his head to the side, still with that sinister smile on his face. "Oh? Show me."

"Sakura." Sai said. "Use it. I can't have you drag me down."

He could almost hear her roll her eyes. "Whatever. But you're right, I can't afford the luxury of Hanabi healing me now." He heard a shuffle of clothes rustling together behind him, no doubt caused by the seals she was going through. Sai's eyes never left from the figure of the smiling adversary in front of him. No telling what he would do if he had his back turned.

"_In fuuin, Kai!_" He heard her say. "Ninpou: _Souzou Saisei!_" A surge of new chakra erupted. She was at one hundred percent again.

Orochimaru's eyes widened just a fraction, his smile even more so. "Oho. Tsunade's regenerative technique. I'm surprised she could use it at such a young age."

"I'll be sure to pass along that praise to her."

"You idiot, this is no time to be making jokes." Sakura said as she came up besides him.

Sai attempted to look hurt. "I was being serious."

"Die."

"I could arrange that if you two don't hurry up." Orochimaru said, looking bored already. "Unless you want me to come at you two first."

"Hmph." Sai turned his head just a bit sideways to stare at Sakura's eyes. "Ready then?"

"Anytime, _Sai_-_taichou._"

He smiled a little. Although the conversations between them always had, and probably always will, remain sarcastic, he knew that they shared a bond of trust so strong it was unbreakable.

"Well then, _Sakura-fukutaichou_, let's do it."

She looked a little surprised when he called her by her proper title for the first time ever, but soon her face hardened as she stared her former love's body with determined eyes. Nodding once, he rolled up his sleeves and using his bleeding thumb as the brush, drew simple but strange symbols on both of his arms. Then, quickly forming the necessary seals, he thrust his palms forward. A black scroll materialized in front of him, hovering in midair. It was the final form of his ink-counterfeit techniques.

"The net of black and white." He chanted, as the scroll slowly unrolled itself automatically in front of him, revealing the previously hidden white blank paper. "Footprints, far lightning, sharp peak, form a square and fly through the engulfed land! Dark night, cloudy seas, blue division, form a circle and fly through the heavens! Counterfeit of the heaven's fortress - _Giga: Tentei Kuura!" _

The floating scroll then, for lack of a better word, _exploded. _The tiny bits of paper streaked through the air, flying in all directions before they all redirected their trajectory and shot towards Orochimaru in incredible speeds. Before Orochimaru could even evade all pieces found their mark. The paper, now transformed into small, hard blades, impacted the target so fast that an explosion erupted from the heat generated by simple friction between paper and ground.

Sakura besides him then shot forward, her hands aglow with pink chakra, intent on finishing off whatever remained of the Snake Sennin with her own ultimate technique. She thrust her fists through the plumes of smoke and dust at the shadowy target inside.

"_Sekka sousho-" _

Something caught her wrist, stopping her dead.

"The Medusa Javelin?"

"Wha-?"

"Hmph, never thought I would see it again. You _are _indeed interesting, winter blossom."

"Sakura!" The man in front of him had been a shadow clone all along! How could they be so careless! The real Orochimaru had emerged now and was holding Sakura by the wrist.

"Oho, this isn't something that I expected out of the so-called emotionless Commander of the ANBUs." Orochimaru noted, amusement laced in his tone of voice as he eyed Sai. "Is she," He yanked Sakura up by the arm. "Someone, perhaps, important to you?"

"Ugh! Let go of me, you monster!" Sakura yelled as she attempted to swat away at the hand that captured her.

"Monster? _Monster?_" Orochimaru started to laugh. "You call your former love a monster now? How amusing!"

Sakura's eyes went wide. "Wh-"

"Oh yes, it's exactly as you think." The man snickered, obviously taking great pleasure in the moment. "When I took over Sasuke-kun's body, I retained all of his memories. I found that the memories he most cherished were during the times he was with you, _Sakura._ It was so laughable! After all this time, how does it feel to discover that Sasuke-kun had harbored feelings for you all along?"

Sakura was a strong woman, but this was too much. It was painfully obvious to Sai that the confession had broken her heart, as he started to see tears in her eyes. "N-no…"

"And yet, you yourself, you too are so ignorant!" Orochimaru continued to laugh. "Are you not aware of your heritage? Do you not realize _who you really are?_"

Sai couldn't take it anymore. He took a step forward. "_You bastard!" _Consequences be damned, he was going to _kill this man! _

"No, Sai, wait!"

Her shout startled him. He couldn't understand. Why didn't she want to be rescued? Did she go mad?

"Tell me! What do you mean that I'm not aware of my heritage?"

If it was possible for Orochimaru's grin to grow wider, it just did. "So you really do not know, do you? Sister of Hyuuga Hiashi and Hizashi and wife of the Fourth Hokage, Hyuuga Setsuka?"

_What…? _

"But I have no obligation to tell you anything else, nor do I have any intention of keeping you alive – although I do admit that you would make an interesting _pet _now that I have lost Kabuto. I have no taste for women, though, feisty you may be. Goodbye, winter blossom. Give my regards to the Fourth, would you?"

Sai saw a glimmer of metal emerging from the Sennin's mouth.

_The Kusanagi…! No…!_

It was too late. Orochimaru had stabbed Sakura straight through her heart. She crumpled into a bloody heap in the ground.

"_Sakura!" _

"And as for you, Commander." Swirling red eyes stared him down. Sai didn't even see him move. _When did he… _"I'll grant you the honor of being my first victim to my new power. Now that I have killed my 'best friend', I am now truly invincible!"

Sai snarled at the madman and reached for a kunai, but Orochimaru's agile hands were faster. In a flash, he had broken all bones in his arms and legs in a single, sickening _crack_.

"G-gwaaaa!"

"No need to be feisty, Sai-kun." Orochimaru said. "Sweet dreams. _Mangekyou Sharingan!_"

Nothing happened.

"What? This can't be! _I killed him! Why are my powers not working!_"

"That's because you failed to kill me, bastard."

Orochimaru tumbled downwards, screaming in pain all along the way. Sai soon saw that the evil Sennin's left leg had been cut under him. It had been sliced off clean, and it soon became clear why. It was Jiraiya, riding on the head of a warrior-toad that carried an oversized sword. Blood dripped from the blade. It was he – 'it', rather – that had done the work.

"Jiraiya! I _killed_ you!"Orochimaru screamed.

"Guess what, you overconfident freak. I'm still alive. And I'm here to finish the job. Gamatarou."

"_**Gotcha boss!" **_

The warrior-toad – Gamatarou was his name – heaved his sword and sliced off the remaining three limbs of the now-helpless Sennin, rendering him truly defenseless. Orochimaru screamed obscenities every single step of the way. Jiraiya stepped off from his toad and approached the crouching Sai.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"They're just broken, Jiraiya-sama. But Sakura… she…"

"…Hm."

She lay in a bloody heap in the middle of the field, the blood pumping out endlessly from her gaping wound. He could see that she was still alive from the way her lungs moved up and down, but just barely. She wouldn't last long much longer, help or not. Unless…

"Jiraiya-sama. Please… take me to her."

"All right."

Sai winced as Jiraiya lifted him off the ground, the pain in his limbs intensifying. But that didn't matter anymore. Not anymore. Jiraiya carefully placed Sai's limp body besides her so their heads faced eye to eye.

"Sakura. Can you hear me?"

All she could manage in response was a bloody cough.

"I'll take that as a yes. Listen, I'm going to use the _gyakusaisei _on you."

Her eyes widened at the news. "N-n…"

"I order you to live."

"B-bu…"

"Jiraiya-sama, can you please lift my arm so my hand is over her forehead?"

He could hear the Toad Sennin's disapproving tone. "Sai…"

"Please. She doesn't have much time."

A sigh was what he got in return. "Very well…"

"S-sai… w… why…?"

"A long time ago, I made a promise. To Naruto-kun. To protect you, and to not make you cry. I failed to do both today, and I'm sorry."

"N-no… you… you c-can't… mustn't…" She coughed up more blood from her mouth. She was getting weaker by the second.

Sai smiled. A genuine one, perhaps his best smile he ever made. "I always did kind of like you."

"Bas… tard…"

It was the best complement he could ever hope to receive.

"Ninpou: _Souzou Gyakusaisei!" _

* * *

"Are you all right now?"

"………"

Sakura couldn't reply. How could she? Sai was dead. Her captain was dead. Her partner of ten years was dead. The man, who she once thought harbored no emotions within, who had, just now, confessed a sort of love to her before he stubbornly gave his life in order to save hers by using the forbidden reverse genesis – was dead.

"Listen… I don't know what to say, but he-"

"Jiraiya-sama. A kunai please."

"Pardon?"

"We still have a job to do."

She eyed the still-wailing Orochimaru out of the corner of her eye. He was descending into madness, still refusing to believe that he had been defeated in such a pathetic way.

She would finish the job.

For Naruto.

For Sasuke.

For Sai.

For all of them.

* * *

Iruka noticed that Anko had suddenly stopped working amidst the ruins of what remained of Base Sixteen.

"Anko-san." He sighed. "Please, stop being lazy. We still have lots of work to do, and…" Only then did he notice that Anko was rubbing the base of her neck. "Anko-san?"

"Iruka… it's gone…"

"What?"

She removed her hand to reveal smooth skin.

"The cursed seal… it's gone…"

* * *

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, what were the results?"

"…Of what?"

"The medical checkup! Sheesh, Sakura-chan, are you sure you haven't gone senile?"

"…Yeah."

Naruto was bracing himself, but much to his surprise the blow never came. Lowering the arms that shielded his face, he stared at Sakura quizzically.

"There was nothing wrong with you." She said. "It was boring."

"Hey, what's with that? Shouldn't you be more happy?"

She smiled weakly. "Of course I am. It means you're going to live a long life."

At around this time Sakura stopped taking advices from Naruto. It seemed that she was getting more confident with herself and her skills, and in a way Naruto was sad but at the same time was happy for her. Instead, their talks drifted towards him and the garden he grew that blossomed flowers all year long.

Naruto stared at Sakura as she ate a bowl of Ramen she had gotten for the both of them at the Ichiraku. "You know, Sakura-chan, you don't have to eat here with me."

She stopped eating and put down her bowl. She smiled again, this time more genuine. "I figured you'd be lonely. Aren't you?"

"O-of course I am!" He blushed and immediately dived into the ramen, trying to hide his embarrassment. They resumed eating, and finished the remaining meal in total silence. Afterwards, they lay down on the floor, staring at the ceiling's only window and the moonlight that shone through.

"I like this place." She said suddenly.

"Hm?"

"It's like… time has stopped."

A pause.

"…I don't want to go back up." She admitted.

Naruto titled his head towards Sakura, who continued to stare blankly at the ceiling window as if she were in a trance. "…Did something happen?" He asked.

She didn't seem to hear him. "No winter, no summer… an always spring garden."

He shrugged. "Well, it is underground."

Sakura rolled to her side and snuggled up to Naruto. She was crying a little, a tiny tear could be seen in the corner of her eye.

"Naruto, I…"

She barely choked out her words as she cried softly in his chest, and Naruto held her close. He didn't ask what was wrong. He had a good idea.

_**He had no idea. It was true that it had to do with Sasuke, but the pain she withheld within went way beyond that.**_

"Every time… I come here… it… it reminds me of back then…"

She was struggling with the pain, all by herself. But eventually, it was time for her to go.

_**She had a job to do. The work that needed to be done in the aftermath of the war was staggering. **_

"Good night, Naruto."

"Good night, Sakura-chan."

_**The rip in the rift of the two worlds only widened. **_

* * *

_**- Fifth Entry - **_

"_**Fortitude" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Eighteenth year. April 2nd. _

_30 years old. Year 15 of Imprisonment. _

_It was over. _

_The Sound was defeated, and Orochimaru killed. The War that had been raging for over 18 years had finally come to and ended. _

_And Sasuke-kun… _

_I killed him. _

_I kept on telling myself that it was Orochimaru that I killed, not Sasuke-kun. But he had Sasuke-kun's body. His body. When I stabbed him through the heart with my kunai, I just… I just… _

_(The next few paragraphs were unreadable; some sort of water smudged the ink writing.) _

_I went down to visit Naruto. Out of the blue he decides to ask about the checkup I had performed on him 5 years ago. It seems his sense of time was getting slower and slower. Around this time I start to decide to share meals with him. He was the only one I had left in my team. Kakashi-sensei was always busy with missions. Also, I had decided to stop giving Naruto correct information regarding the outside world. Especially now that… _

_(More smudges.) _

_The garden. Naruto's garden. They are beautifying things. Whenever I'm there, it feels like time slows down to a crawl. Surrounded by the enciphering flowers that never withered, I thought I was in the garden of the heavens for a few moments. That reminds, Naruto did once say it was a garden closest to hell. The irony is beautiful. _

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

A small disclaimer note should go here since I'm too lazy to edit the ones in the top page. The technique Sai used, the _Tentei Kuura_, translated roughly into 'Heaven's Fortress', is an actual technique borrowed from a manga-anime series known as _Bleach, _authored by the great author Kubo Tite – although the contents of the actual technique have been altered. In _Bleach_, _Tentei Kuura_ is actually a communications spell; its effects look nothing like Sai's technique. The only thing borrowed is the name of the spell and the spell chanting process. As for why I included that… it looked cool? That's really the only excuse I can give. That, and I am a huge fan of _Bleach_. Consider it cameo. Yeah.

This chapter seemed to be a quite on the Sai x Sakura side. I admit, there's a part of me that's a small fan of that pairing, but like I said way back in the early days, this story isn't really focused on pairing but instead the plot itself. And this story _is_, overall, a Naruto x Sakura story, so for those in favor of that pairing need not to worry. After all, Sai's dead now! Haha… ha… ha. Okay, bad joke. Sai fans please don't kill me.

Although I usually don't bother giving out explanations and mostly leave the details to the reader's imagination, I felt that this needed explaining. Orochimaru calls Sakura 'winter blossom' due to the name Setsuka – which roughly translates into 'snow flower'. Interestingly enough, the kanji for 'setsuka' can also be pronounced 'sekka', which has the same pronunciation as the Japanese word for 'petrifaction'. Thus, the Medusa Javelin – the _sekka soushou, _Sakura's signature technique, instead of meaning the 'petrifaction spear palm', can also mean 'winter flower spear palm'. It may not seem interesting to most readers, but I thought it was kind of nifty. This is how I came up with the name Setsuka and her connection to the technique, and, consequently, the title. Since I had given some thought to this when I came up with the title, I didn't want this tidbit of information to be lost since I doubted anybody would get it. So there you go.

Anyway, I am proud to say that this story (or at least the arc that is Medusa Javelin) is half done now! At the pace I'm going, it will only take another four months before I finish this entire story! (smacks self) I really do ought to keep the pace up a little more. Damn distractions always keeping me away from inspiration and fiction writing… damn it all.

Reviews, as usual, are most welcome. Until next chapter, see you all again!

- Nes Mikel


	6. Faith

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_These thoughts… bring remorse…" _

* * *

_**- Sixth Entry - **_

"_**Faith"**_

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Twenty-eighth year. December 15th. _

_40 years old. _

* * *

The Hidden Cloud Village, located atop the peaks of Mt. Fushikazan in the heart of Thunder Country was well known for their defensive capabilities. It was the only village among the Five Great Shinobi countries that boasted impenetrable defenses and were actually true to their word. The Hidden Stone Village came close due to their natural mountain barriers that protected their borders, but the Cloud had a reinforced fortress constructed on top and inside the highest mountain in all Five Countries. Not only did it exhaust the invaders in order to climb the harsh slopes in order to even reach the village, the slopes themselves were laced with dangerous traps and was scattered in such a way that it was virtually impossible for a person to climb unscathed without a proper guide – much less an army.

Of course, this worked both ways, as traps and the slopes themselves severely limited their offensive capabilities, as it was dangerous to even _leave_ the village. They usually forged alliances with different nations when it came to war, the last example being partners with the Stone when they invaded the Leaf over forty years ago. Had not the Stone pulled out early in the long war, perhaps they could've even won in the war that ultimately ended in a stalemate.

Still, all that seemed irrelevant when Cloud Village Diplomat Senritsu Bashou found himself on the receiving end of a kunai, in his administrative office no less.

His first thought, naturally, was that the Ninth Raikage had sent ninjas to kill him. He _had _been a little outspoken during the recent Village conferences held annually inside the Raikage Courthouses. He had repeatedly criticized the Raikage in his latent policies and pointed out multiple flaws that had potential to cause a huge uproar in the governing body. A quick look at the said ninja that held the kunai at his neck, however, quickly refuted that thought.

"Don't move." The masked ninja in front of him said.

Bashou's startled expression soon settled into something akin to a smile. "Nice way to greet someone who you haven't seen in so l-"

"Close the door." The ninja spoke with a touch of ice, edging the kunai closer to his neck.

Bashou held his hands up as he submitted to the ninja's request. "Okay, okay." He said as he took a few cautious steps backwards and slowly closed the door with his tip of his foot. It closed soundlessly. His back still to the door, he fumbled with his left hand as he pushed then twisted the knob sideways, clicking the lock into place. "Done, yes? The blinds are already down."

"Soundproofed?"

Bashou nodded, though careful not to accidentally wedge his neck into the kunai blade. "I made sure of that when I had this room made, yes."

"Chances of someone interrupting our 'meeting'?"

He gestured with his hand to the intercom on top of his office desk. "If you would allow me…"

The ninja nodded and nudged Bashou gently forward. "Try anything funny and you know what happens." The ninja warned him.

Bashou nodded again as he pressed the button on the intercom. The return chime sounded immediately and a young female voice emerged from the other end. "_Yes, Bashou-san?"_

"Ahh, Kaoru-chan, how are you today? When I brushed by your office just earlier you looked dashing. Those were new Jade earrings, yes? Shougo-kun must be treating you goo-"

"_May I remind you, Bashou-san,"_ His secretary interrupted him over the intercom in a not-so-friendly tone. "_That sexual harassment is strictly prohibited in the workplace and is a punishable offence."_

"How mean!" Bashou whined. "I didn't even complement on how well your new pink bras fit your breasts!"

One could almost see killing aura seeping through the intercom from the other end. "_Bashou-saaaan?" _

"Ahahaha! I'm only kidding, Kaoru-chan! I only called in to say that I'm going to be entertaining a female 'guest-of-honor' in my office, so I want no interruptions! So keep the scary administrative guys away, will you please? Thank you!"

Even before his secretary could protest he cut off his transmission. Bashou then turned to his captor with gleeful glittering eyes. "Well? Was that satisfactory?"

Although the mask covered the ninja's face, the creases of a frown were obvious. "You entertain female 'guests' often?"

"It's a good cover in case things such as this happens." He explained.

The ninja shook its head, in obvious disapproval. "I should've known better."

Bashou narrowed his eyes in a smile. "Can you at least withdraw the kunai from my neck, pretty please? That thing is inching _awfully_ close to my neck…"

Much to his relief, the ninja complied and withdrew the kunai and expertly tucked the blade away into its weapons holster. "I didn't want to take any chances. I hope you understand."

"I know. But I'll say," Bashou said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I'm really surprised you actually managed to infiltrate the village undetected. They would make a ruckus if they found out!"

"Let's not find out."

Bashou picked up a hint of a threat in there somewhere. He pretended to look hurt. "Of course! I'm insulted you suggested that imply otherwi-" The kunai's sharp point touched his Adam's apple. He held up his hands in surrender. "It was a joke, a joke. Sorry."

Sighing, the ninja withdrew the kunai a second time. She then removed her mask and promptly shot him a cold glare. "I'm not in the mood for jokes, Kakashi-sensei."

Hatake Kakashi, alias Senritsu Bashou chuckled a bit at the way he was called. "You really do know how to make a guy feel old, Sakura. Sensei? I mean, come on."

He studied his former student in front of him for a bit. She hadn't changed much, still in her beautiful twenty-five year old youthful appearance supported by the cosmetic ninjutsu that halted her aging process. She was wearing the traditional lightweight ANBU armor but he noted that she had a red spiral tattoo on her arm, not the usual black, marking her status as the Commander of the entire Konoha ANBU corps. He supposed he would've been in that position had he not accepted the long-term covert mission that planted him in the heart of the Cloud government. It was a pleasant surprise to see her again after all these years.

"So, how are things back home?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm not here to exchange pleasantries either." Sakura growled dangerously. Patience has never been Sakura's forte. "I've wasted enough of my time as is. When Tsunade-sama ordered me to track you down, we realized that you never revealed your assumed identity in the annual reports you've submitted. It took me _three months_ to find out who you were."

Kakashi was pleasantly amused. "I'll take that as a complement. So what gave me away?"

"Your mask, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, her frown deepening. "You taught me a long time ago that a ninja-"

"Must be able to read what's underneath the underneath." He finished the sentence for her.

Sakura looked annoyed but to his relief she didn't pull her kunai out a third time. "At first, it was kind of hard for me to believe that you'd still wear that stupid mask over your face amidst a village full foreign ninjas." She said. "Then it occurred to me that that's what you want people to believe. After that, I just had to file through the lists to see if any important Cloud officials wore a facemask. That finally led me to you."

"Very good, Sakura. You've grown up to become a fine shinobi indeed!" Kakashi nodded happily as he circled around the desk and sat himself comfortably in his office chair. "So, what brings you here to the Cloud? In person no less! Something unsatisfactory in my reports?"

"I'll tell you what's unsatisfactory in your reports. All those lovey-dovey stories you write about some secretary and her boyfriend, you'll give Jiraiya-sama a run for his money. But that's not what I'm here for." Sakura breathed in a deep breath before she spoke again. "I'm here to relieve you from your fifteen-year old mission, Kakashi-sensei."

For the first time since they met, he looked a little shocked. "You're here to kill me?" He sat himself upright in his chair, now fully cautious. "Sakura, I don't know what they told you, but I assure you that I haven't done anything to betray the Leaf. Cut off I may be, but I would never-"

"I don't doubt your loyalty Kakashi-sensei, nor does the village. I'm not here to kill you."

"If you're not here to kill me, then why are you here?"

Sakura narrowed her brows, looking deadly serious. "You have been chosen as the successor to Tsunade-sama, Kakashi-sensei. You have been named as the Sixth Hokage. I've been ordered to take you home should you accept."

He blinked.

"You're kidding."

"I wish I was, Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

Teradaya Kaoru was a woman who prided herself in never being afraid in the face of power. She had, in the past, faced a serial killer who had ordered her to beg for her life if she didn't want to die. She refused him, and in rage the criminal swung his sword and marked her with a permanent scar that that streaked across her left abdomen. She had also, in the past, refused a lecherous Cloud councilman his offer of making a plaything out of her for one night in exchange for large sums of money. When she refused him too, he abused his political power and had her demoted to the lowest ranks of Cloud citizenship – prostitution.

She had spent many years, horrible years in the whorehouses. Created by the ninja village under the pretext of 'entertainment among the ninja ranks', she was forced to do many things she never would have done hadn't she be tied down, drugged, defenseless. But never once had she catered into depression and she continued to live on strong.

It all paid off in the end; the serial killer had been caught and executed, while the corrupt councilman was exposed and whisked away into penal servitude. And when the Cloud government acknowledged their mistakes and finally released her from confinement, they had issued an official apology and offered her a job in an important administrative position within the Raikage Courthouses, the epicenter of the Cloud government.

Which all led to this current job of hers: secretary of Diplomat Senritsu Bashou, the village's resident sexual harassment demon.

Despite her daily threats to Bashou that she would someday report him to the higher-ups about his behavior in the workplace, Kaoru never once did actually carry out her threats. Kaoru did not hate Bashou. In fact, she rather liked him. Despite his flaunting behavior, he was a well-liked, well-respected, kind man that was worthy of Kaoru's respect.

Granted, her boss was an _obvious_ pervert. Famous for reading those perverted novels widely known as the '_Icha Icha Paradise'_ series, once he picked up the book he never put it down until he was through with it no matter the situation. He was also fond of chasing pretty skirts down all day if he were left to his own devises. It was part of her job to keep him in line.

She also knew how he claimed to have entertained many female 'guests' in his office, but despite the rumors Kaoru knew better. The truth was, Bashou actually _helped _these woman guests, listening to their pleas of help, offering assistance wherever he could. If you were a woman and you were in trouble, Senritsu Bashou was the man to talk to. Bashou was a gentleman, a man of his word. To her knowledge, he never once took advantage of any woman, even if one were willing.

Kaoru herself owed many things to this man. It was he who had exposed the corrupt councilman and sprung her from the whorehouses in his crusade to abolish the foul establishments and to end inequality between men and women. It was even he who arranged Karou to meet Shougo, who she fell in love with and were planning to marry next spring. He was like a father to her. Her real one never cared for her anyway.

Today was like many other days. She had received her daily dose of teasing from Bashou through the intercom, secretly pleased that he noticed her new Jade earrings that were indeed a present from Shougo. Despite her earlier foul mood, she found herself humming in happiness. So when she heard his wishes that he didn't want to be disturbed while he was 'entertaining' his 'guest-of-honor', she never would have imagined that he was a Leaf ninja spy speaking to his village contacts and instead believed that he was helping another woman out of her problems.

A knock sounded. She looked up from her stack of papers to see three girls clothed in plain brown kimonos standing in front of the open doorway of her office.

"Ah, Tsuno, Oki, Kobi! What a pleasant surprise! Come on in, come on in!" She stood up from her office desk and beckoned the three in. "How may I help you?"

"Thank you, Kaoru-san." Tsuno, the eldest of the three sisters was the first to speak. "Is Bashou-san available?"

These three sisters were among the many Bashou had saved from either poverty or starvation. Although life in the Cloud Village was comfortable, the many towns that surrounded the base of the mountain were not as fortunate and were constantly plagued with sickness and food shortages. These sisters were three such victims.

"Unfortunately, no, he's not available at the moment." Kaoru answered. "He's, you know, 'entertaining' someone." She expected the three girls giggle at her small joke, but when their face continued to remain sober, suspicions arose immediately. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

Looking hesitant, Tsuno spoke. "Kaoru-san… we, um, well…"

"Oh for Raikage's sake, Tsuno-neechan, enough with the stuttering already." Kobi, the smallest and the feistiest of the three interrupted her shy older sister. "Kaoru-san, look, we have reason to believe that the thief was in our barn. We even saw him, right? Tsuno-neechan, Oki-neechan?"

"The thief?" Kaoru asked, puzzled. "Oh, you don't mean…" Understanding slowly dawned on her.

"Right, _the _thief." Kobi said. "The thief who stole the village's artifact – the Twin Emeralds!"

* * *

"The Twin Emeralds?" Sakura asked, looking more than irritated. "What's that have to do with anything?"

"Look, Sakura, I was going to write about it in the next annual report, but-"

"Cut to the chase, Kakashi-sensei. This doesn't explain why you're refusing the position of the Sixth Hokage."

"Have a little patience please, I was going to get to that." He said as he righted himself up in his chair. "But really, Sakura, what do you know about the Twin Emeralds?"

Sakura scoffed. "The Twin Emeralds are an artifact of some sort that the Cloud had treasured for about forty years. No one knows what the Twin Emeralds really are – rumors say that the artifacts were discovered when the Cloud excavated some ancient ruins and are said to pulse with strange energy. It is located deep within the vaults buried underneath the Raikage Courthouses in which its entrance is bound by high-level genjutsu seals and is guarded by Jounin-class guards full-time. It is said that the vault is impossible to infiltrate."

Kakashi nodded. "That's correct."

Sakura waited for a moment, expecting her teacher to say more. She was instead met with silence. Her tolerance for patience was quickly wearing thin. She should've expected this eccentric attitude from her teacher, but even knowing that he would be difficult didn't help to deter her growing anger.

"And…?" Sakura finally asked, making sure her displeasure was noted in her tone.

Kakashi blinked innocently. "What, you don't know?"

"If this is one of your puzzles, Kakashi-sensei, then-"

He didn't wait for her to finish. "The Twin Emeralds were stolen, Sakura. Right out of the vaults."

_That_ earned her attention all right.

"That can't be. The Leaf had tried several times infiltrating the vault, but all attempts failed miserably. There's no way anyone could crack that vault with those defenses in place. Unless…" Sakura trailed off. An idea sprung into her head. "Was it an inside job?"

"Sort of." He answered. "When the search party investigated, they discovered a long, winding tunnel dug underneath the vault that led all the way down to the base of Mt. Fushikazan. Quite the feat for the thieves, I must say."

She was surprised. "All the way through from the base of the mountain? That must've taken years… _decades…!_"

"Yep. That's what the investigators say too."

"When did this happen?"

"Two days ago. The Cloud forces have been on high alert since. The news is all over the country, Sakura. I'm surprised you didn't know."

"It took me three days of careful climbing in order to reach the top, Kakashi-sensei." She explained. She crossed her arms in front of her and nodded her head. "So that's why there were more guards posted outside the village walls… it was really tricky for me to sneak in undetected."

It was Kakashi's turn to look surprised. "You mean you actually managed to sneak in here by scaling the mountain _and _the walls? I thought you got in here by assuming a fake identity as a potential client."

"Too risky. My hair is way obvious, dyed or not. Henge is futile too knowing their genjutsu barriers, and there's no way I can pass myself as a client if I were wearing _this, _don't you think?" She said, referring to her ANBU uniform.

"I suppose so… but still."

"I'm not the little girl you know anymore, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura forced a tiny smile. "Far from it."

Kakashi returned the smile. "Right." He said. "I seemed to have drifted off from the topic a bit. Sorry."

"That's all right. So what does the Twin Emeralds have to do with your refusal of accepting the title of the Sixth?"

"I saw the thief. Or thieves, I should say."

"Who were they?"

"The Akatsuki."

* * *

He did not want to wake up. In his sleep, he was warm, cushioned by the branches and dreaming remorseful dreams decades old. It wasn't as if he liked remorseful dreams, though; it was just that he simply liked the occasional change. It was nice to have a bit of variety, and, after all, those memories were important to him. They showed him images of his past self, images that could've been long forgotten had he not dreamed of them. The flashes of moving images were unwelcome because they all-too often unearthed unpleasant memories. But he embraced the dreams in its entirety because they were necessary things to keep his already fragile identity intact. It was a complicated relationship.

It was the wind that dispelled his dreams. They gave him a savage beating whilst his prone form slept atop the network of branches and the force eventually pushed him out of his bed and into the ground. Fortunately, his fall was short, and so when he hit the ground he aroused from his drowsy state without injuries – flesh injuries, anyway. The right side of his body had been scratched and dented in a few places, indicating that, had he had fallen on his left, maybe he wouldn't have been as lucky. Oh well. It really didn't matter if he had been injured in his flesh left half or his prosthetic right half that combined together to shape his body. Either way, a few jutsus would fix him up just fine.

He took a few sweet moments before he sat upright from the forest floor, still a little dizzy from waking up so suddenly and having suffered a fall. He realized he was a bit disoriented and felt like vomiting – which wasn't a pleasant option because he was still wearing his mask that was a pain in the ass to remove. Thankfully, all that came out was a dry retch. For once, he was thankful that his stomach was empty. He rubbed his belly, now aware of hunger.

He stood now, dimly observing the far horizon from the single hole cut out from the mask to allow him sight. The sun was high, glimmering down through the canopy of branches and tinged the sky above slightly pink. Air's dust, he assumed.

He inspected the tree from which he fell. The branches were twisted and torn from where had fallen, and much of the yellow fruit of the tree were missing. He silently grumbled his displeasure. Seasons were so inconvenient at times. There goes his plan for breakfast.

He heard sound, voices. People. Of course, he was in an orchard after all, an orchard of pears to be precise. Perhaps he had been spotted? He immediately squashed the thought in his mind. Of course he had been spotted. In an orchard full of trees covered in specks of snow, here he was, a hulking figure (of sorts) who wore pitch-black lightweight armor that encompassed his entire body and wore a orange mask on his face with a black, swirling pattern that centered in on his eyehole. If that didn't make him stand out, he didn't know what did.

He considered for a brief moment what he should do. The last time he came in contact with people – normal people anyway – it started off terribly. He remembered in grim red shards the terrified faces of… what were their names? Tsuno, Oki, and Kobi? The three sisters who lived in the small farm where he last took residence in were startled out of their wits to see a strangely dressed man sleeping in their barn besides their animals. He could've stayed and explained to them what he was, but knowing that his explanation would just make things more complicated, he instead kindly asked them to pass on a certain message before he hastily made his exit. He would have to drop by the barn some day and secretly deposit some gold ryo coins in front of their barn as a token of gratitude for carrying out his wishes – he confirmed they did just that when he spotted the three sisters making their way towards the village yesterday. Although they seemed better off than most others, they still looked poor enough. Surely they could use the small boost to survive the harsh winter season. What use was money to him if he could not use it?

He heard a scream, then, as if a plug had been pulled, silence. He winced at the noise. That meant only one thing. His partner was here. The scream must've come from the poor orchard farmer. Maybe he should have slept somewhere else. He hated getting the uninvolved involved.

"_He had to be silenced." _A voice said, as if reading his thoughts. "_You have already deliberately exposed yourself twice. You cannot afford to do so again." _

"Sorry."

"_Perhaps the farmer would have lived had you not decided to stop us from killing that man. We must satisfy our hunger somehow." _

"I know."

"_So why did you interfere?" _The voice asked.

"I had to."

In the corner of his mind, the man thought that an outsider might've seen this scene particularly amusing. After all, here he was, an oddly dressed man sitting in the middle of a pear orchard talking to a disembodied voice that seemingly came from all directions. But then again, he knew such things were not going to happen. The voice made sure of that when it had done whatever it did to that poor farmer.

"_Whatever your intentions are, it was not worth the risk of crossing us." _

He picked up the strained tone in his partner's voice. "Zetsu-san. I don't think you've got the right idea on this guy. If you find out who he is, you might find out why he tried to kill you."

"_And by refusing to disclose the identity of this 'guy' you speak of, you are not helping. What are you planning, Tobi?" _

"I'm not refusing anything, nor am I planning anything. They gave me an order _not_ to kill him, Zetsu-san. That's why I had to stop you."

"_**Tobi." **_Zetsu's voice changed. It was the other personality speaking now. "_**If that's the case, until we understand our leader's will we have every reason to doubt you." **_

Tobi sighed and scratched the behind of his cloaked hood. It was complicated when Zetsu referred to itself as two people, not that it was far off from the truth. "The man who attacked you was Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi."

Zetsu did not reply immediately. It was only after a while that the first voice returned. "_The man looked nothing like Hatake Kakashi. What is your evidence?" _

"He's been planted by the Leaf as a undercover spy, Zetsu-san. As for evidence, Leader briefed me of his identity. Is that good enough?"

"_Is this all for the preservation of the 'process' and not one of your dialogistical beliefs?" _Zetsu asked.

Tobi hated when Zetsu disapproved of his policy of avoiding unnecessary casualties. It was plainly obvious that Zetsu had a policy totally opposite of his, and constantly reminded Tobi of his lack of willingness when it came to killing people

"Yes." He eventually said.

"_Which yes, Tobi?" _

He breathed in and breathed out. "The 'process', Zetsu-san. The 'process'."

Another brief silence passed before Zetsu spoke again. "_Our memories of the man are clouded." _

Tobi simply shrugged at that. "I won't blame you. It's been, what, twenty, twenty-five years since you've last seen him? When Sasori-san died, around then. Not to mention-"

"_**Deidara warned you a long time ago that you talk too much."**_ The second personality of Zetsu suddenly cut in.

"Yeah well, he's 'dead' too along with Itachi-san and Kisame-san." Tobi replied calmly. "All in the name of the 'process'."

Tobi then looked down and stared at the cylindrical container he carried in his hand. About twenty centimeters in diameter and about a meter long, the artifact contained inside was the last piece to the puzzle. It was something he so painstakingly worked hard after decades of digging, and with careful planning and execution, the artifact was finally in his hands.

"It's hard to believe that it's all coming to an end soon." Tobi said, reminiscing. "Don't you think so too, Zetsu-san?"

"_The Akatsuki will not end. We will continue to exist in the Shadows. We are the dawn, and forever will be." _

"Yeah, I know. I'm just saying that-"

Zetsu's presence disappeared even before he could finish his sentence.

Sighing once, Tobi silently walked away from the orchard trees and into the cold grasslands beyond. He had a task to do still.

And all will be over. Soon.

* * *

"…_The Akatsuki?_ But Kakashi-sensei, you know that Itachi long ago-"

"He must've failed. Or lied. I don't know which, but they were the Akatsuki, Sakura. There was no mistaking it. Those robes…"

That was more than enough to clear her doubts. "Did you recognize any of them?" She asked immediately.

"No. There were two. One of them looked like… like a man with a Venus flytrap over his head. He was very odd looking. It was he who I spotted first, quite by accident actually. Ran right into him after the vault had been broken into and alarms were sounding all over the place. After seeing who he was, I tried fighting him."

"You _fought_ him? Kakashi-sensei, you know that-"

He held his palm up, stopping her. "Yes, I know I could've exposed myself, but I was careful. I had myself established as a capable fighter despite being a Diplomat so I had some ground to work on in case I was forced into a situation where I needed to fight. He caught me off guard though and I would've lost. He had me pinned down and the best I could hope for was to wish for reinforcements. I could've lasted longer but not without breaking my cover. He was about to kill me when the second Akatsuki interrupted."

Sakura raised her eyebrow at that. "You mean this second Akatsuki member actually stopped his partner from killing you? Why would he do that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. What's even stranger is that this other Akatsuki took his time to actually expose himself all over Cloud Village. He deliberately appeared in front of many people and even allowed himself to be caught on the surveillance tapes. We have him on our most wanted list now and had it distributed all over Thunder Country." Kakashi picked up a piece of paper on top of his office desk and offered it to Sakura. "Here, would you like to see it?"

She took the leaflet and studied the man on the wanted poster. "This isn't much help." She said after a while. "He's covered in black, and he's wearing a swirly mask in front of his face. The only thing that might give the Cloud clues to who he might be is his hairstyle, and that can be changed easily." She put the paper down. "What about the flytrap man? "

"Unfortunately it seems like whoever else he ran into he killed. I'm the only witness. I gave them the description, but of course I didn't tell them that they were Akatsuki."

Sakura frowned. "Didn't the Cloud have _jinchuuriki_ and had them kidnapped by the Akatsuki too?" She asked. "Wouldn't they figure out eventually?"

"Yes, the Two-tails and the Six-tails, _Nekomata _and _Raijuu_ I believe. But the Akatsuki never did attack the Cloud, Sakura, not directly like it was in the case of Gaara when he still held the _Shuukaku_ within him. In Cloud's case, the _jinchuuriki_ simply disappeared. They made a fuss all right, but they never did pursue their disappearance that seriously. They were more like… relieved when they were gone."

Sakura made a face at that. It seemed like no matter where the _jinchuuriki_ were born, they were treated like monsters and could be cared less by the villagers.

_Naruto… _

She shook the thought away from her head. "So," Sakura began. "What you're saying is that now that we know the Akatsuki is active again, you can't afford to leave."

"Correct. I have a better chance at finding out more information about the Akatsuki if I stayed here. I'm honored to think that the Fifth has considered me as her successor… but honestly I can think of dozens of others who are more qualified than me and actually willing to take on the job." He smiled a bit. "Yourself included."

"Oh please. There's no way someone like me could-"

"I'm sure you're high up in the list of candidates. You've proven yourself a capable leader and a valuable asset to the village. Not many could pull off a stunt like sneaking into the Cloud undetected, Sakura. I'm proud of you."

"…Thanks."

"Sorry I couldn't meet your expectations."

"It's all right. It wasn't a total waste coming here. Information about the Akatsuki's reemergence alone was worth the trouble. And it's been nice to talk to you again, Kakashi-sensei."

He flashed her a bright smile, the best he could anyway with that mask of his. "Likewise, Sakura." Then, "You have a way out?"

"I do, don't worry. The method's quite ingenious, actually. We have been developing ways to-"

The intercom sounded. Kakashi and Sakura looked at each other, a little unsure if they shoud answer the call. The intercom beeped again, and looking hesitant Kakashi leaned over and pressed the button. "Yes?"

"_I'm sorry to interrupt, Bashou-san, but I felt that you needed to be notified of this." _

"What is it, Kaoru-chan?"

"_Tsuno, Oki, and Kobi are here to see you. They say it's urgent." _

Kakashi released the intercom button cutting off the transmission and looked at Sakura. "Three sisters." He said. "I helped them in the past. Not sure what they want, but if Kaoru says it's urgent, I'm sure it is. Do you want to stand in while I meet these three?"

She didn't reply but in turn nodded back and formed seals with her hand. A puff of smoke later, she henged herself into the appearance of an grimly-looking female Cloud nin. "I'll be Shigure, your unwanted visitor. Deviate from there."

Kakashi nodded back at her, understanding the necessity of the act. He slowly pressed the button on the intercom.

"Send them in."

* * *

Tobi was now quite a distance away from Cloud Village and was nearing the Fire-Thunder borders. He found himself in a forest, quite thick, running through the tress to look for some sort of suitable clearing for his up and coming meeting.

Eventually he found one such clearing. It was rather small; patches of dirt gave away for low green grass and were surrounded by tall, long trees. The sun was high so there was ample light. Enough to see – well, whatever was necessary.

After catching his breath for a bit, he sat himself in the middle of the clearing, methodically taking out several items from his tool pouch. He pulled out two tightly bound scrolls, and a clear crystal ball small enough to fit on the palm of his hand. He laid the items out in front of him, and then finally took out the cylindrical container that contained the two artifacts within. He stared at the glass case for a moment, studying its contents for a while before he set it on the ground and turned his attention back to the crystal ball. He picked it up from the ground and fit it on top the flat of his hand. Concentrating chakra into his fingertips, the previously inanimate sphere slowly came to life. Images swirled inside the crystal ball, the pictures and sounds of people slowly coming into focus. It was difficult to maintain such images over such large distances, but knowing the people seen inside the sphere helped him tremendously.

The image showed him an overhead view of the disguised Hatake Kakashi and the henged Haruno Sakura, welcoming the three farmer sisters into the office.

Tobi smiled. It was all going according to plan.

* * *

"Welcome, Tsuno, Oki, Kobi." The elderly Bashou said as he stood up from his chair, looking at each of the young sisters when he called their names. "I should've told Kaoru-chan to send you three in immediately, but I wasn't expecting you. I hope you accept my apology."

"That's quite all right, Bashou-san…" Tsuno pushed a nervous laugh. She bustled forward to greet the Diplomat, extending her hand. He gently cradled her hands into his and shook on it. When he let go, she was about to say more but the small woman that accompanied Bashou inside the office spoke first.

"So you are the three?" She stood before them. A Cloud-nin, Tsuno could see, someone she didn't recognize through. Her eyes were deep and dark, hidden in sockets that seemed to have receded into her head, a painfully obvious sign that this ninja had seen her share of tough times. To Tsuno's shock, the woman reached out with her small hand and brushed her cheek. "I've heard many things about you."

Bashou shifted nervously as he sat back down in his chair. To Tsuno, he spoke. "Ah, forgive me. Her name is Shigure. My… ah… consultant of sorts."

Tsuno had absolutely no idea who this woman was or what she wanted from Bashou. It did kind of baffle her that Bashou didn't even seem to want her here, however. But there was no time to think about that, for this woman – Shigure – was looming over her now. "What an exotic looking creature." She said. "The color of her skin, the texture of her flesh… why, she's just like a little toy."

Tsuno endured this, but only barely. Her two sisters were shocked by the Cloud nin's frightening behavior and were frozen on the spot. Tsuno's gaze drifted over to Bashou, her eyes pleading for help. To her relief, help soon came. "Shigure, you're scaring her." Bashou said.

The woman stopped her caressing. She turned and glared down at Bashou. "What I do is none of your business."

Bashou was calm and collected. "Well, you have that right. But may I point out that it is _exotic looking creatures _like these who are working and dying on our behalf, even as we speak, all over the country. It has been difficult enough for me to persuade the Raikage assembly that our citizens deserve more respect than to be treated like _playthings_."

Shigure scoffed but said nothing more. Instead she retreated into the corner of the office, arms crossed in front of her as she dimly observed the remaining occupants of the office.

"Sorry about that." Bashou said, cutting into the tense atmosphere. "She can be nice once you get to know her-" A snicker sounded, but he ignored it. "But anyway, what brings you three here to my office?"

It was Kobi but that cut in first. "Bashou-san, we met the thief!"

He looked puzzled. "Your house was broken in? If that's the case, I can ask the office to dispatch several ninjas to investigate-"

"No, no, no!" The youngest sister shouted. "You see, it was him, him! _The _thief!"

His puzzled face remained. "I'm still not sure if I understand…"

Oki stepped forward. Usually the quiet one, it was rare for her to speak but she made an exception. "We recognized him as the thief who stole the Twin Emeralds, Bashou-san."

"…What? You mean…?"

"There was no mistaking it!" Kobi said. "He looked exactly like the picture on the wanted poster!" She held up the leaflet and pointed at the picture of the swirly masked man. "See, see?"

"If this is true," Shigure spoke, malicious aura emanating as she stepped forward. "Why, pray tell, did you not inform the assembly first? Instead, you come to this man? You citizens are so incapable it makes me si-"

"Enough Shigure." Bashou interrupted her. "I'm sure the sisters have a reason for coming to me first. Am I correct?"

Tsuno nodded. "Bashou-san… when we met the thief, he asked us… to deliver a message to you."

He looked shocked. "A message, you say?"

"Yes. He asked us to tell you-"

* * *

"_Ah, sorry sorry! I really didn't mean to startle you guys. I'll leave, right now. But in exchange, can you do me one small tiny favor, pretty please? You know Senritsu Bashou, right? The Cloud Village Diplomat? Well, if you have the time can you tell him I said hi and I'll be seeing him soon? Oh, and tell him that the Raikage is prepared to betray him? Would you? Thanks!" _

* * *

Kaoru was still in her office, working through her piles of paperwork when the man of her dreams literally blasted himself through her office doors.

"Shougo-san!" She said, startled out of her wits. "What are you-"

The handsome blond man grabbed her by the shoulders. "Kaoru! Where's Bashou-san? Where is he?" He asked, his beautiful purple eyes sparkling with urgency. Ah, yes, those eyes, eyes she could lose herself endlessly in its embrace…

Kaoru cursed herself for thinking such things about Shougo when it was clear that the Jounin-ranked fiancée of hers was deeply troubled. "H-he's in his office." She answered. "Shougo-san, what-"

"No time, Kaoru. He's in danger. He must leave the village, right _now!_"

She was scared. She'd never seen him like this before. "Shougo-san! W-what's going on?"

"The Raikage, Kaoru. The Raikage! He just announced that Bashou-san is a traitor to the village and he must be executed!"

Her world came crashing down.

* * *

_Just like clockwork. Almost too good to be true, really. Looks like the tip worked beautifully._

Tobi's face locked into a grin as he continued to witness the events unfolding through his crystal sphere.

* * *

Kakashi knew immediately things were spiraling out of control when he heard the message passed on by the three girls that came from the mysterious Akatsuki member. Things only got worse when his secretary and her boyfriend broke his office door down. One look at their distraught faces told him all he needed to know. So it seems that an anonymous tip by the Akatsuki blew his cover. He knew that the Raikage, who already resented him anyway had probably jumped on the opportunity and declared him traitor without even really bothering to check the tip's validness. He was that kind of man. Why the Akatsuki would do such a thing, however, he had no idea. Did they perhaps want something from him? Something related to Naruto? He stood up from his desk, looking grim.

"Are you here to arrest me, Shougo-kun?" He said, slowly turning to the only other man in the room.

"Bashou-san, I don't care _who_ you are. Traitor or not the fact remains that you have helped both Kaoru and I tremendously. I'm going to get you out of here. Hurry please; we don't have much-" It was then he noticed Sakura's presence inside. Alarmed, he immediately drew his katana blade and held it in a trained stance in front of him. "Don't you dare try to stop me."

"I won't." Sakura said, still in her henged Cloud nin form. "But you won't be helping him escape. I will."

Shougo looked baffled. "What…? Wait, who the hell are you?"

Sakura released the henge, transforming herself back into her normal ANBU form. She made sure her mask was on, however. Would be bad if they ever found out exactly who she was.

A gasp from one of the sisters sounded. Kobi probably. "S-she's a Leaf ANBU!"

Shougo readied himself for battle. "You won't take Bashou-san away, you vile-"

"Don't be alarmed, Shougo. Everyone else too." Kakashi said, trying to calm everyone down. "She's an ally."

Kaoru looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Bashou-san… is it true? Is it…?"

He tried to look as apologetic as he could. "Sorry, Kaoru-chan. I really would've loved to see you in your wedding kimonos."

The first trickles of tears poured out of her eyes. "Bashou-san…"

He tried his best to push his feeling of guilt out out of his mind. "Sa- er, I mean, Shigure." Kakashi said, turning to Sakura, mentally slapping himself for almost revealing her true name. "If you have a way out, I suggest we do that right now."

"Doing that now." She replied as she took out a black scroll from within her pockets. She quickly unrolled out the paper and spun it around the top of her head. "Grab on to me." She commanded. "This is going to feel weird."

Kakashi had really no idea what exactly Sakura was doing right now but he decided it was wise not to argue. He came up behind Sakura and grabbed tightly onto her shoulder, careful not to hurt her too much.

"Guess this is goodbye, then, Bashou-san." Shougo said as Sakura spun the scroll around faster and faster. "Leave everything to me. I'll do my best to cover your tracks."

"Thanks, Shougo-kun. That's more than I could ask for. Just make Kaoru-chan, happy, would you?"

"I will, Bashou-san."

Sakura stopped spinning the black scroll papers and let them fall loosely around the floor. Her hands flew through seals. "Ninpou: _Kamikakushi no Jutsu!_"

Kakashi and Sakura blinked away from existence.

* * *

_Ah, here we go now! _

Tobi dropped the crystal ball gently back onto the ground and reached for his two scrolls. He spread them open revealing the complicated seals written on the paper, and then biting his thumb he smeared the black ink with red blood. Both of his hands came together in a set of seals, carefully going through each complicated one making sure he didn't make a mistake. When he saw his two targets whisk away in the crystal ball, he slammed his hands down on top of both of the scrolls.

Two large plumes of smoke erupted from where he slammed his hands down. He removed his hands from the ground and took a careful step backwards, admiring his handiwork.

In front of him were Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura, hovering slightly above the ground with their arms and legs tightly bound together by a thin stream of white chakra energy coils.

The looks on their faces were priceless.

"Told you I'd be seeing you soon, right?" Tobi said, grinning triumphantly behind his black spiral mask.

* * *

Sakura had no words.

Well, almost.

"What… what the hell just happened?"

It was the best thing she could say with confusion running rampant in her mind. She was sure her technique had worked perfectly. So why were they here, stuck in some sort of clearing in the middle of some forest she didn't recognize, held prisoner by some strange jutsu in front of a man who was a member of the mysterious Akatsuki organization and was highly wanted by the Hidden Cloud when he stole their precious artifact?

"Ahh, the _kamikaushi_." Their captor said suddenly, bobbing his head up and down. "It's really quite an ingenious technique. It's sort of like a reverse summoning ninjutsu, right Sakura-san? You realized that that summoning ninjutsu is really a glorified form of space-time ninjutsu that bends dimensions in order to call forth intelligent nin-animals to this realm. So you realized that the same principles could be applied to humans too. There are few such jutsus already in existence, such as ones used in your Chuunin exams in order to prevent people from looking at their assigned scroll in… what was it, the second exam I believe? But the problems with those jutsus were that the person could only be summoned when somebody else opened the scroll, and you were whisked away all too suddenly without your consent. What the _kamikakushi _does is to instantly teleport yourself and anyone else to 'waypoint' stations scattered around important strategic locations around Fire Country, from anywhere, anytime. The 'waypoints' themselves are circles written in ancient arcane symbols, using blood to draw and burning them into the ground using your chakra. It's all quite similar to the Fourth Hokage's _hiraishin _techniques but at a much larger scale, which, I believe, provided your original inspiration for the technique. I think that above covers it. Did I miss anything?"

Her technique was supposed to be a village secret. Created after almost a decade of hard research and excruciating trail and error, it was Sakura's most proud accomplishment to date. The secret of her technique was only privy to a select few higher up in the ninja hierarchy, and even then only a handful of people knew the full workings of the _kamikakushi_, people she trusted her lives with. So how could someone like he know how her technique worked, down to the small detail? She was about to open her mouth to ask but she was stopped when a gloved finger touched her lips.

"Ah, ah, ah. I'm sure you have lots of questions, such as: who the hell am I? Or, why do I know the full workings of the _kamikakushi_? But the question I think you should be asking is how the heck I managed to catch you two, no?"

As much as Sakura hated the thought, she knew he was right.

"And you're just going to tell us, just like that?" Kakashi asked.

The man in front of her removed the finger in front of her mouth seconds before Sakura tried to snap at him with her teeth. "Well, why not?" He asked innocently. "After all, this technique is quite ingenious too. The concept is ridiculously simple, though. I just created a sort of a… dimensional net, per se. I don't think you realize this, but where we are right now actually is directly in line between your office and the Hokage Tower in the Hidden Leaf. All I had to do was wait for you to come along, catch you in my dimensional net and immediately follow it up with a binding seal. Easier said than done, though. It's like… do you know what a bullet is? You know, those small, metal balls that shoot out of those new stick-looking things invented by the Stone recently? Those. Anyway, catching you two is kind of like catching two bullets out of thin air with my bare hands. The timing has to be perfect, you see. So that's why I had you guys forced into a situation where you had to use the _kamikakushi_ so I could catch you two in my net, all the while keeping an eye on you through – see this crystal ball over here? I call it the _senrigan_ – the distant eye. I believe the Third Hokage was rather fond of using something similar to this in order to spy on-"

"Why are you telling us this?" Sakura interrupted him before he went any further. "What do you want with us?"

"Quick to the point are we? Fine, fine." The spiral masked man bent down and picked some cylindrical container off the ground. He twirled it around his two hands. "Care to guess what this is?"

She couldn't clearly see the two objects floating inside the glass container, but through the hazy liquid she spotted a shade of green. "The Twin Emeralds. The artifact you stole from the Cloud."

"Quite correct. Except that this isn't an artifact, Sakura-san. It's a relic."

"A relic? What's the difference?"

"An artifact is a product of human art and workmanship, Sakura-san. A relic, on the other hand, is an object worthy of human interest because of its age or association. But there is another, lesser-known definition for the word 'relic', Sakura-san. A relic can be a part of a deceased person's body or belongings kept as an object of reverence. Such is the case here, these Twin Emeralds."

"Why are you telling us this?" She asked again. "I don't see what that thing has to do with anything-"

"Oh, but it does. You see, thirty-seven years ago, the last war between the Cloud and the Leaf ended. But it did not end quite as peacefully as many people would've hoped. There was an incident. During negotiations, the leader of the Cloud forces was murdered when he attempted to kidnap a member of a certain clan. The Leaf-Cloud relationships deteriorated from there and were just on the verge of eruption again when a under-the-table deal was arranged. The Cloud demanded the body of the murderer that took the Cloud leader's life: the then head of the Hyuuga Clan – Hyuuga Hiashi. The Leaf accepted this deal, but they actually turned back on their word. They instead sent to the Cloud the body of Hiashi's brother – Hyuuga Hizashi. And this," The man nudged the cylindrical container. "Is all that remains of him. His eyes. Glorified into relic status because green eyes in Cloud country are considered sacred. I think you understand where I'm going with this now, don't you?"

A horrifying thought slowly crept into her head. "…No… can't be…"

"Sakura? What's wrong?" Kakashi next to her asked, oblivious to her inner turmoil. His words fell on deaf ears.

"If those _things_ are the remains of a Hyuuga clansmen's eyes, then those eyes should be white due to Byakugan!" She spitted out, almost shouting. "Not green! There's no way that could-"

"I'm sure you've heard of the Hyuuga clan's use of _jyuinjutsu _– the cursed seals that separate the Main Family from the Branch Family. It has some nifty properties; such as, allowing the Main Family members total dominance over the Branch Family by giving them the power to kill with a simple hand seal. And I'm sure you're aware that the cursed seal only disappears after death, sealing up the ability of the Byakugan along with it. What you don't know, however, is that when the cursed seal seals up the ability of the Byakugan, the color of one's eyes also change. They revert to their ancestral color – green. Just like your eyes, Setsuka-san."

"_Don't call me by that name!"_ She screamed. "My name is _Sakura! It's Sakura dammit! _I'm not some… some…" She trailed off, at loss for words.

"Well then, now that my task of explaining is done, I wish you a happy journey home! See, once I release the dimensional net you'll be whisked away to where you were originally headed. I've sort of frozen you in space you see – that's why you're kinda floating in midair. Oh, and here you go, make sure you take this back." He walked up behind her and tucked the cylindrical container into her large tool pouch. "Make sure he gets a proper burial. The least you can do."

The sudden shift in topic startled her. "Wha… are you insane? You hold me hostage using some fancy ninjutsu capitalizing on the weakness of my transportation technique after exposing Kakashi-sensei out of Cloud, and you just all of a sudden decide to hand me over the relic that must've taken you years to get your hands on? Why are you doing this? What the hell are you Akatsuki thinki-"

Her constraints were suddenly released. She blinked away from existence.

* * *

"Geez, that student of yours, she asks too many questions. Not that I can blame her of course, but still. Heh, she must be confused out of her mind right now. It's really too bad that she won't understand what's going on until the end…"

Kakashi stared at the man in front of him with hard eyes. "Who are you, really? Not only are you knowledgeable with Konoha techniques, you even know about the Third Hokage's _senrigan_ and the Fourth Hokage's _hiraishin_."

The man in front of him spread his hands. "Aww, come on, give me a break. I admit, it's been years since we last met, but I mean really. Has it really been so long that you can't recognize your best friend anymore?"

"…What?"

The man in front of him started removing his mask. It eventually fell, clattering to the ground. What met him on the other side was a face he'd never expected to see again.

"Hiya Kakashi."

"…_Obito?" _

The kiddy grin was still plastered on his face, just like he remembered after all these years.

"It's a long story." He admitted, looking sheepish.

"I'll say."

* * *

Sakura was at first horrendously worried when Kakashi didn't arrive at the waypoint station she constructed underneath the Hokage Tower after her initial arrival, but to her relief he whisked back into existence two hours after she was first released. He must've spent those two hours talking to the Akatsuki maniac but he refused to tell her what exactly happened during those two hours. Instead, he told her that he was now ready to take on the responsibilities as the Sixth Hokage. She hassled him for hours but she eventually gave up, retreating deeper into the basement and letting the others take care of the ascension ceremony.

She decided to visit Naruto instead.

As she walked down the corridors, she suddenly came to a stop and immediately convulsed in pain. She bit back a scream. There was no way she was going to let Naruto hear _that_.

It was the backlash from the _souzou saisei_, she knew. When she performed it initially in the battle ten years ago the regenerative cells within her were kicked to maximum drive and were exhausted. Normally they needed weeks before they were recharged enough so she could perform it again, but when Sai performed the second – the _souzou gyakusaisei_ – it forced her already strained cells to work beyond critical limits and literally broke them apart. And even after ten years, she was constantly plagued with these occasional waves of pain. Despite the treatments she received from Tsunade herself at an attempt on natural reconstruction, they never ended.

Sakura suspected that one day the pains would prove fatal.

_How ironic. _Sakura grimaced as the pain slowly receded. _Sai saved my life, but he killed at the same time. _

Her only source of comfort came from Naruto. Recovering quickly, she soon found herself within the wide rooms of the dungeon. He spotted her immediately as she entered, his happy voice bouncing all over the dark walls.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Been a while."

"Sorry Naruto. Been busy."

"Been about two weeks? What happened?"

The question caught her slightly off guard. _Three months, actually. _She wanted to say. But she didn't. She never could.

"…Ah, yeah. There was an emergency conference, and we all had to go to the Sand." She lied as she sat down next to him. She felt tied. Wrapping the blanket she brought with her around her body, she leaned her head over his shoulders.

"Sand, eh? How was Gaara? He's like, what? 20, 21 years old now?"

"…Yeah, he was doing a good job as Kazekage."

_He's almost 41 years old now, Naruto. Garra already retired as Kazekage. Did you know that Temari's the current Kazekage now? You should see Shikamaru, Naruto. He's really whipped. _

"Oh yeah, by the way how are those geezers doing?"

"Hm?"

"You know, the ones that you wanted them dead! Some of them are gone now, right?" He grinned.

She wanted to answer him truthfully. She wanted to tell him they were already all dead – save Hyuuga Hiashi – and she wanted to say that Tsuande tried her best to convince the just-as stubborn second generation Village Council to release him but still failed. So she settled for another lie.

"…Heh. Well, two or three of them are gone now, but most of them are still alive and kicking."

"Tsk, stubborn ones, aren't they?"

It was too much. She flinched at his words, praying to the dear gods he didn't notice. She saw that Naruto was about to say something, but she beat him to the punch. "…Sorry Naruto. I'm not really feeling well."

He looked disappointed. "Awww. Ok, get well soon then!"

"Good night, Naruto."

"Good night, Sakura-chan."

Naruto would be always Naruto. And she would do anything to keep it that way, no matter what. He was the only dear thing left to her in this world, and she was clinging on to him desperately, refusing to believe the truth that was shoved in front of her face. But she never realized. By doing so, she was only making her grief that much unbearable.

And the wheels of time turned forward and forward…

* * *

_**- Sixth Entry - **_

"_**Faith" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Twenty-eighth year. December 15th. _

_40 years old. Year 25 of Imprisonment. _

_Tsunade-sama retired as the Fifth Hokage today. She chose Kakashi-sensei as her successor. Due to the ceremonies and trying to find Kakashi-sensei in the first place and convince him to take up spot as the Sixth, I was away from Naruto for three months. _

_Naruto thought I was gone for two weeks. _

_Our senses of time have definitely drifted apart. _

_At the time, I lied to him saying that I had visited the Sand, but during that conversation another disturbing revelation was brought to light. Naruto thinks it's only been 5-6 years since he was imprisoned. I never mention to him that Gaara had already retired and the Village Consul members that had imprisoned Naruto in the first place were already all dead. Too bad their successors shared the views of the old ones. _

_It is mentally stressing. It's been real difficult for me to continue lying to Naruto. I still continue to lie to him, unable to look him in the eye. Also, it is getting rather difficult for me to maintain my youthful appearance. I had released the In seal on my forehead and performed Souzou Saisei twice to recover from my otherwise fatal wounds in my battle with Sas… _

_(The rest of the line is quickly scribbled out.) _

_The after-effects of the technique had been more staggering than I had originally thought. Despite treatments from Tsunade-sama, I never had fully recovered. _

_About the plants in the garden: Naruto explained to me that he combines the light from the moonlight with his own chakra to let it grow. It seems its DNA has been altered too, so much so that it shares Naruto's properties of longevity. _

_After Tsunade-sama retired, I placed several high-level personal seals of my own to the entrance in the corridors leading to Naruto's garden. There was no telling who would get in now that I wasn't working in the Hokage Tower full-time anymore. I would let nobody else disturb Naruto. _

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

Good god, it's getting complicated. But at least I managed to answer one question one reviewer made about why Sakura's eyes are green instead of white. Of course, the explanation given in the chapter above only gives rise to more questions… all in due time, my readers! All in due time.

I intended for this chapter to be short, but instead it turned out to be the longest one I've ever written. I don't know why or how that exactly happened – I just started writing, and by the time I found myself finishing it just ended up that way.

Now, unlike the other chapters, this chapter contains OCs. If it were possible, I really did want to avoid the use of OCs, I really did. But with characters aging and the fact that there are no actual names of Cloud shinobis introduced in the canon storyline (manga-wise, anyway – and the guy who kidnapped Hinata doesn't count), I was left with little choice but to improvise.

It's been a policy of mine to use canon characters as much as possible when I write stories, and so I decided that if I were ever in a situation where I was forced to use an OC they would only take filler roles. I dislike using OCs because, in my opinion, they complicate stories and unless they are well made and believable they are just too unpleasant to read. Yes, I'm aware that there are stories out there that has OCs in them and still be excellent reads (off the top of my head, I can recall that **One Hundred Days** by Aaron Nowack is a good example), but all too often I read mary-sue stories, or 'I got sucked into the Naruto world' stories, or stories where an OC replaces a member in the team, or, worse, stories where an OC becomes a fourth member in a team – that usually are of poor quality and leaves me in an irritated mood.

Had I offended anyone in the above monologue, I sincerely apologize.

Anyway, so I doubt very much we'll see more of the three farmer sisters Tsuno, Oki, and Kobi, Kakashi's Cloud Village secretary Teradaya Kaoru and her boyfriend Shougo. Perhaps I could let them take on another small role later on, _maybe. _But I very much doubt that would happen

Also, since I am again too lazy to edit the disclaimer note above, I hereby declare that the name _Senritsu Bashou _are actually real character names taken from a manga-anime series known as _Hunter x Hunter _authored by Togashi Yoshihiro. I guess I like taking bits and pieces of other manga plot elements and let them make a cameo appearance in my storyline. It's not like I'm running out of ideas! Honest!

Yikes, I'm ranting. Anyway, that's about it I guess. As always, thanks for reading!

- Nes Mikel


	7. Justice

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_Tell me…" _

* * *

_**- Seventh Entry - **_

"_**Justice"**_

_Reign of the Sixth Hokage, Tenth year. March 4th. _

_50 years old. _

* * *

Sakura never was fond of religion.

It was a given fact that everyone in the Hidden Leaf was religious to a degree. There were the annual ceremonies, the _omatsuri _festivals, coming-of-age rituals, weddings, and many other celebrations that were influenced by some religious myth or legend. Similarly, many people worshiped or admired a few certain deities they believed that would protect their family from harm or grant them powers to vanquish their foes. And most, if not all, believed in the _Shinto_ aspect of spirituality, which was the belief that within every single object there resides a god within. It actually made quite a convincing argument when one thought about it carefully, since it was possible for any object, inanimate or not, to channel and maintain chakra energy, the basic energy of all life.

Summoned nin-animals that lived in otherworld dimensions could also be claimed as living proof that the gods, or at least a creator, existed. Some even argued that the summons themselves were the gods, although many refuted that theory since the summons made no such claims over their heritage (the good ones anyway – the evil ones tended to gloat over their power) and they were bound to the summoner by a blood contract. If they really were the gods that created this world, then they wouldn't even have bothered to give their subjects such power over themselves. The enthusiasts of the theory argued back that the 'gods' (the summons) were only trying to help their creation by generously submitting themselves to their level. Or so the argument went.

Even though science continued to advance daily in an effort to better understand the world that surrounded them, there were some things that were beyond the scopes of science that simply could not be explained. Religion helped fill in those gaps. Of course, some of them made no sense whatsoever, but even the religious unenthusiastic had to admit that it was better than nothing.

Sakura understood the necessity of religion. She even believed some of it too, _Shinto _especially. She would be blind if she didn't admit that the world she lived in was rich with myths and legends, inhabited by demons of yore and little fairies of mischief. There were curses and hexes, disasters and miracles. Even the common powers, such as chakra and jutsus – although they were a part of everyday ninja life, there was never a scientific explanation on why there were so many different variations, why it worked the way it did or why it even existed in the first place. There were the Forests of Death. There was the River of Life. There were even the occasional forgotten ruins, full with artifacts that emanated ancient power of unimaginable properties.

And, of course, there were the tailed beasts and their human cages: the _bijuu _and the _jinchuuriki_.

_Kyuubi and Naruto. _

She tried her best not to think too hard about their illogical immortality. She had already long ago accepted that she was going to die before him, not that it made her feel any better. As the years passed by she grew more and more conscious of her age, and while every one of her friends had aged graciously she refused to give in and still maintained her youthful form even when she knew that its overextended use was slowly destroying her within. Her body had already deteriorated enough to a point where her always-worried apprentices convinced her to retire from active ANBU service lest she get herself killed. That was a decade ago, just right after Kakashi was inaugurated as the Sixth Hokage, but the will of fire still burned strong within. She still fought recklessly hard, pouring all of her heart into medical science and the never-ending battle against death, as well as accepting relief missions wherever she could to relish the chances of briefly returning to active duty. Well, it was more like more like annoying the hell out of Kakashi until he eventually caved in to give her a mission, but hey, it got the job done. Even he couldn't deny the fact that she was still one of the strongest ninjas still alive within the Hidden Leaf today.

Sakura remembered Chiyo-baasama and smiled slightly. Perhaps that was how the elderly woman thought of herself back then when she insisted she be taken on the mission when they rescued the Fifth Kazekage Gaara so long ago.

Still, Sakura was not fond of religion. As the leading expert in medical research – the other title she carried nowadays – she found that spiritual beliefs and modern science all too often conflicted with each other. She couldn't even begin to count how many times the ethical barriers, the morals, even downright common-sense people possessed – all influenced by _Shinto_ one way or another – getting in the way of research breakthroughs, hindering progress and frustrating her to no end. Then there were the groups of people who believed in religion all too seriously; so much, in fact, they reached a point where they were ready to declare war on the rest of humanity in the name of their god. And wars, the wars! There were too many people who rationalized bloodshed because they believed that they were conducting a holy war, that killing someone was all okay because the enemy were heathens and the murderers were 'cleansing' them on behalf of their gods.

Despite preaching love and kindness, it was an undeniable fact that many religions had a long history of holy wars, repression, and intolerance, and _Shinto _was no exception. She had seen all of this happen through her life and it made her sick to the stomach.

She only tolerated religion because she knew it was necessary. There were the many positive aspects and lessons _Shinto _taught that aided in the upbringing of a child that could not be ignored. Whole lifestyles were constructed around the religion, and she had seen communities thrive under the guidance of their beliefs. By denying religion it destroyed lifestyles. Sakura certainly loved the cultural aspect of religion and cherished it in all forms – it was just that when people took their beliefs to another level, it never ended well.

And all too often people were stupid like that.

Currently, Sakura was outside, taking a walk. The sun was high and bright, not a cloud in the sky, the scent of spring dancing in the air. Had her objective of this particular stroll had been something else perhaps she would've been cheerful and smiling just like the sunshine. Instead her face was solemn. It mainly had to do with her destination for today's walk. The Shinobi Memorial.

As a ninja, death was a part her life. As a medical specialist, both life and death was a part her life. Being both, she had seen many births but more deaths. And as the years passed by, the numbers of dead mounted. When she took away life, most didn't have to do anything with her, they were enemies that needed to be killed, targets that needed to be assassinated, and criminals that needed to be executed. But when people whom she knew all of her life died… that… that was something she could never get over.

The first 'death' of someone close to her was Naruto. Although he wasn't technically dead and she talked to him in his dungeons almost daily now, he might as well been. Officially he didn't even exist in the records anymore, all traces wiped out clean. The newer generations knew nothing of him, as the village council made it an official rule to never mention the 'demon child' or of his eternal imprisonment beneath the Hokage Towers. When the Village Council first established the law it had gained massive support from the majority of the village. Despite protests from Tsunade, Jiraiya and many others, it proved futile in the end. The people that supported Naruto were definitely in the minority, and with the new law now in place there were simply no other supporters to hope for. Naruto was doomed to fade away from memory.

The next was Sasuke. The most infamous traitor next to Orochimaru himself, he was something of a legend now, his story of tragedy and defection told through the new generations and passed off as something of a lesson to be learned. Although his name was not written on the Shinobi Memorial, he had left a definite mark in the Hidden Village of the Leaf and would live on through folk tales for generations to come.

Then there was Sai. Known now as the heroic Commander of the ANBU forces, he was something of an idol to many young ninja hopefuls. His techniques of ink manipulation were studied and learned, and it became somewhat of a semi-requirement for all ANBU ninjas to at least have the most basic knowledge in _choujuu giga _techniques. By transforming secret documents into ink counterfeit form, it was possible for information to travel across large distances, avoid enemies, and even intercepted they were able to defend themselves and self-destruct if necessary. His legacy literally transformed the very structure of Information and Espionage throughout the Hidden Leaf.

And her most recent: her parents.

They were ordinary people, her parents. They never really wished for their daughter to grow up to become a shinobi, but she always wanted to make her parents proud and so eagerly pursed the career. They lived happy, comfortable lives and were feverishly proud of her when she had succeeded in her goal and beyond. They were loyal supporters to her cause and helped her from the shadows for many years. They passed away suddenly only a year ago, their time of deaths separated by only one month. They died from an illness she could not cure. Although she knew she could do nothing for them, she blamed herself for not being able do to anything despite her vast medical knowledge. Their deaths had left a large hole in her heart.

Today, she was on her way to visit the Shinobi Memorial to pay respect not only to the three who had influenced, shaped, and sculptured to who she was today (although only one of their names – Sai – was actually written on the stone) and her parents that had brought her up for all these years, but also to everyone else who fell in the aftermath of the Sound-Leaf War. The twentieth anniversary was only a month away, but she didn't want to find herself in such a large crowd to pay her respects to the fallen. Although she herself would no doubt be invited to the ceremonies – after all she was considered the legendary "Sakura-hime", the unaging kunoichi who had once been the partner of Sai and the one who dealt the finishing blow to the evil Snake Sennin to end the war – she wanted a quiet moment of peace to herself before the ceremonies actually took place.

"Ah…!"

Sakura turned a corner in the forest path and almost bumped into someone by accident had she not dodged quickly to the right. She silently cursed to herself for being so lost in her thoughts and hastily looked up to see whom she had nearly collided with.

"Oh, why if it isn't Sakura-hime! How fares our village's most favorite kunoichi! You look beautiful as always! The fire of youth still burns strong within you!"

"Gai-san!"

"Hello Sakura."

"Hey hey, it's been a while, Sakura, how are you doin'?"

"Kurenai-san, Asuma-san! I am fine, thank you. I didn't know you three were back. What brings you here?"

It was indeed quite rare sight to see these three back in the village. These three were the same teachers that taught the Konoha's _kyuuninshuu_ – the "Group of Nine" – the legendary nine ninjas that turned the tides of the Sound-Leaf war: Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Neji, Tenten, and Lee. They _kyuuninshuu_ were all Sennins now and were scattered all over the world, contributing greatly to the Hidden Leaf's cause and maintaining the peace and prosperity of the Hidden Leaf. Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma, the mentors of the _kyuuninshuu, _held similar status and kept themselves busy by also traveling around the world.

"Ah, well, it's a special occasion you see." Asuma answered. "It's sort of a tradition we have. We- oh, did I ever tell you that us three were in the same Genin team?"

She wasn't aware. "I don't think so. Really? You were? So today was your graduation date or something?"

"Yeah, well, sort of." Asuma scratched the back of his hair, now gray with age. He looked uneasy and old, so unlike the man she gradually began to be familiar with when she started working as a personal assistant to Tsunade. "We were just on the way back from visiting the memorial to pay respects to our teacher. Today's the fiftieth anniversary."

Fifty years ago meant the year Kyuubi attacked the village. It made her think about Naruto again and made her uncomfortable. She was well known among the older generation as the 'sympathizer of the Kyuubi' with her daily visits to the dungeons. "Oh, I see." She said flatly.

Kurenai must've noticed her unease. "She didn't die from the Kyuubi attacks, Sakura, our teacher died from an unfortunate accident seven months prior. No need to feel guilty. We know you only care for Naruto and not the Demon Fox within him."

She immediately felt awful for having doubted these three. "Sorry, Kurenai-san." She apologized.

The old woman gave her a warm smile. "Don't be. I know you are still working hard to free Naruto, You always will have our support, Sakura."

"Yes, never fret from your goals Sakura-hime!" The eccentric green-spandex man exclaimed. "Hard work will always prevail! I am sure you can achieve your dreams!"

Sakura smiled and bowed deeply. "Thank you… so much."

When she came out of her bow, she noticed that Asuma looked at her with narrowed eyes. It wasn't a look of suspicion, but that of concern. "You going to the memorial too by the way?" He asked.

"I was planning to." She replied.

"Mm… listen, you might want to wait around a bit. There's a missionary from the Capital holding a small speech there."

Her brows rose. "A _Shinto_ missionary from the Capital? Here, in Konoha?"

"Yes, the gentleman just got here today!" Gai said. "Actually, Sakura-hime, while we were there he told us that he was looking for you! Do you require an escort?"

She knew Gai meant no harm and was clueless with Sakura's resentment towards the missionaries, but Sakura frowned anyway.

Noticing this, Asuma stepped forward and held an arm to Gai's chest. "Wait, Gai." He turned to Sakura and looked at her sincerely. "You dislike them."

She nodded.

Asuma shrugged his broad shoulders, lowering his arm. "Yeah, I understand." He said gently. "Heard you were at odds with them for a long time… that's why I warned you."

"I have an idea." Kurenai said as she lightly clapped her hands together. "We were about to have lunch, so why don't you come with us to the teahouse to kill some time Sakura? I'll treat you some dango, if you'd be willing, of course. How about we do some catch-up for old times sake?"

She considered the offer for a moment. It was true she did want to avoid confronting a _Shinto _missionary anytime soon, but it was also true that she had to meet them head on sooner or later. And she did not like the idea of having to postpone a visit to the memorial just because someone who belonged to an organization she disliked was there first. It was like admitting defeat. No way in hell. She was not going to run away.

"Thanks for the offer Kurenai-san, but I think I'll go to the memorial anyway."

The older woman smiled at that, albeit she still looked worried. "Alright, take care then. Make sure you don't break the poor old man's bones or anything."

The two women laughed at the small joke. When the laughter died, Sakura quickly bowed at the three and resumed her walk towards the memorial, waving her hand as she bid her farewell to the three elderly ninjas.

* * *

"You know." Asuma said suddenly as soon as Sakura turned a corner in the forest path and disappeared from view. "Has it ever occurred to you guys that she's kind of similar-looking?"

"Hm? Who is it you speak of?" Gai asked, curious if anything.

"She is." Kurenai said, understanding immediately of whom Asuma was talking about. Then she added, "Odd. I never really noticed the resemblance until you pointed it out."

"It's the eyes that are different." Asuma noted. "Sakura's are green while hers were white. That alone changes the impressions of a person by quite a bit I guess."

Kurenai nodded. "I suppose. But still. As far as I know only those two had that color of hair. It's not like a light shade of pink is common."

"Oh, you two speak of Sakura-hime and that of our mentor!" Gai exclaimed, finally getting it. "Yes, yes I see the resemblance quite clearly! Her voice, her chin, her hair, very similar looking yes! Even height too! I still remember the times when we all celebrated the day when we all outgrew her height! Why, I can still vividly recall that time at the sake bar when we all-"

Asuma interrupted his old friend with a light growl. "Gai, please don't remind me."

"Ah, my apologizes! But you have to admit, Asuma, that it was a very memorable incident!"

Kurenai grinned mischeviously. "He has a point there."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up."

The three friends continued on, walking out of the small forest and into the streets of the village. As the other two headed for the nearest teahouse, Asuma paused and took a casual glance back at the forest Sakura disappeared into and tried to conjure up the image of his teacher in his mind.

They _were _similar. Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Setsuka.

_Can they be…? _

Asuma shook the thought away from his head. What he was thinking of was impossible. It was an undeniable fact that Hyuuga Setsuka had died fifty years ago.

Yet, he had to admit the resemblance was striking. Perhaps they were related somehow? But if so… why did the Hyuuga clan make no such claim over Sakura's heritage?

Ultimately, however, he decided not to find out.

_Ah, to hell with it. Rather than sticking my head into someone else's business, having tea now sounds much better anyway. _

* * *

She found the place was quieter than usual when she finally emerged out of the forest path. Usually she found the practice arena bustling with small activity; wither it be ninjas in training or the birds and small squirrels chirping happily at spring, she always found the place resonating with a touch of volume. Instead, what met her in the clearing of training area was a silent small crowd with a single, clear voice, speaking softy and steadily above them.

The _Shinto _missionary was standing directly in front of the Shinobi Memorial, hands spread wide, smiling. Before his massive figure there were people, mostly civilians but a few young Genins and Chuunins among the crowd. They were all sitting on the dirt ground, squashed together due to lack of space. There were perhaps thirty of them.

The missionaries were a small but prolific group of preachers that had completed their studies in the _Shinto_'s most holy city known only as the Capital. The city was so ancient no one knew its true name anymore, but the significance of its existence was still grand. Located in the center of the five Great Shinobi Countries, within the Capital there resided the Emperor, who, albeit unofficially, held absolute authority over all known land in the world. Acting out the will of the Emperor were the three groups of Chrysanthemum Guards, 'Twilight', 'Midnight', and 'Dawn'. Shrouded in mystery, they were a group of highly skilled ninjas that one group alone were said to rival the power of a single ninja village in any of the five Great Shinobi Countries. In fact, only the Emperor held the authority of naming a ninja village worthy of the "Kage" title, and recognition meant immense status in world politics. Although there were many self-proclaimed "Kages" living in the lesser-known villages, if you didn't get recognition from the Capital it meant jack squat.

However, by no means the Capital ruled the countries with an iron fist. Instead they were rather lax, letting the countries be and they rarely got themselves involved in wars or other forms of inter-village politics, such as the times when they didn't even lift a finger when the three Great Ninja Wars were fought. On the rare occasions they did get themselves involved, however, issues were usually resolved very swiftly and resolutions followed without question. No one, not even psychopathic evil villains like Orochimaru, had ever dared to go against the Capital. The Capital was the icon of absolute reverence and absolute authority.

Therefore, any person or any group associated with the Capital and the Emperor held high status among all lands, and the _Shinto _missionaries who spread the word of the Emperor's religion were no exception. They were treated like nobles and were respected in kind.

Sakura was different; instead she held feelings of distaste for these holy men and women, as she believed that many were corrupt and only existed to abuse their power. While it was true that some acted for the betterment of all, many others behaved as if the very power of the gods had rubbed off on them. The ones she met all acted arrogantly, frequently sticking their heads into issues she studied and cautioned her and her research team that in pursuing knowledge they were conducting heresy.

Sakura was not a non-believer by any means, but she was not a full-fledged believer of the religion either. She felt an importance balance between the two was necessary, and so she disliked the missionaries who tried to impose their absolute beliefs on others in order for them to further their position of reverence among the masses. Just like Asuma said earlier, she and the missionaries were at odds with each other and had been for a long time.

As Sakura approached the Memorial Stone the audience began to take notice of her presence, whispering to each other about her prestigious status in the Hidden Leaf and how she opposed the spreading of orthodox _Shinto_ beliefs. The missionary noticed her too, and Sakura thought he acknowledged her with a wink. The crimson-robed missionary clapped his hands together and got the attention of his crowd.

"All right, I think that is enough for today. Remember your lessons well, and may the gods watch over you all."

The crowd dispersed, many bowing their heads to her as they passed her by. Soon they thinned, and were eventually gone, leaving her and the smiling missionary all alone in front of the Shinobi Memorial. She crouched down in front of the stone and laid down a single lily flower in front, white in color. Her hands came together and she sent off a quick prayer to the fallen before she turned to the attentive man standing behind her.

The large man spoke first. "Sakura-hime, it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I am from the sect of 'Dawn'. My name is Kumano, alias _San_."

She allowed herself to look a little surprised. "You are from the Chrysanthemum Guard? I didn't know they allowed _Shinto_ missionaries within their ranks."

"I am a special case." The robed man replied. His smile grew larger. "Rest assured, I am capable of fending for myself."

Sakura studied the man. Just like his namesake, his overall appearance resembled that of a brown bear; he was massive, perhaps the largest person she ever encountered. Unlike a normal bear, however, he was quite hairless; he was bald and wore simple round glasses on his face, his blue watery eyes strange as he looked at Sakura with a certain sort of fascination. She guessed his age to be around sixty, judging from the deep pores in his dark, tanned skin. He wore a long, smoothing red robe that reached all the way down to his ankles traditional of _Shinto _priests and Sakura spotted the man wearing a small ring on his left hand's index finger. _Strange._ She thought. _Why do I have the feeling that I saw something like that somewhere_ _else…?_

"Well, Kumano-san, what brings you here to the Leaf? I met Asuma-san, Kurenai-san, Gai-san earlier. I have heard from them that you were looking for me."

"Ahh, yes." He sounded pleased. "I only wanted to meet you for a simple reason, Sakura-hime. After all it is said that one had not lived until one had witnessed the beauty of Konoha's treasured cherry blossom!"

Sakura wasn't impressed. "You flatter me." She deadpanned.

The hulking man winced. "No need to sound so hostile. I meant no harm."

She sighed. "Kumano-san, if you are a member of the Chrysanthemum Guards then I'm sure you know that I share a… uncomfortable relationship with the Capital's missionary sect. I am a medical specialist first and foremost, and I grow tired of their interferences with my research. If you are here to convince me otherwise then forget it."

"You have my word that the purpose of my presence is to not convince you to halt your medical research, Sakura-hime." He assured her. "Quite the opposite in fact. I am here to congratulate you. I bring you word from the Emperor himself that he has expressed gratitude for you dedicated work and has allowed me to tell you that you have his support. You are free to perform as you like without any further interference."

His words didn't register within her for a good few seconds. "…Wait, wait, what?"

"Oh, was I unclear? I said-"

Sakura shook her palm in front of her. "No, no, I heard you fine the first time. It's just this… the Emperor?"

The man's comforting smile returned. "I am sure it is a surprise. But your medicine had recently prevented the death of a good friend of his, and so he expresses gratitude for your contribution to medical science. The Capital as a whole does not frown upon the research of different sciences Sakura-hime, only the most extreme of the religious sect discourage them. The Emperor does not wish to hamper progress by any means."

_Just my luck I get all of the discouraging ones, then._ Sakura thought.

"I am a student of science myself." Kumano continued. "I believe a healthy balance between the material world and the spiritual world is important in maintaining the balance of lifestyles, and it is my belief that further research in sciences will only prove the credibility of our beliefs."

He had a point there. Science wasn't the answer to everything. "Such as?" She asked.

"Entropy, Sakura-hime. You know of it, of course?"

"Chaos theory. That everything will eventually fall into disorder."

He nodded. "Quite correct. Think of it this way, Sakura-hime; you yourself were in ANBU, so this reference should be appropriate. Imagine it is war. You start off with a hundred men in your squad. You order your men forward and ten die straight away, while another ten are hit and injured in the time the squad accomplishes their objectives. So eighty will move on. The process repeats itself, ten more fall, ten more are wounded… on it goes. This is entropy, everything slowly wearing down, lives being rubbed out." He curled one of his hands into a fist and lightly smacked it into his other hand. "It's relentless. From the moment we're born to the moment we die, entropy is everywhere."

"It is not a cheerful thought." Sakura said.

Kumano tilted his head slightly to the side, his smile downgrading into an easy grin. "You are right, it isn't."

"So what does this have to do with _Shinto_?"

He lowered his hands. "The thing is, Sakura-hime, we don't accept entropy. If we had, everything would wear out eventually, our bodies will fail from starvation and dehydration, farms overrun by locusts, gardens overrun by weeds, buildings left in disrepair, and so on. What makes the difference is that we try to fix the wear caused by entropy. Sakura-hime, you of all people should know this very well. You try to fight the ultimate form of entropy with your medical science. Death."

Sakura thought she understood where this man was getting at. But she was wrong.

Kumano spoke on. "The sad fact however is that we won't last much longer. None of us will. But our children will survive, and our children's children will survive, until an unending chain of blood and strength forms that will go on forever until the end of time. And… at the end, at the pinnacle of infinity, where all physical matter and spiritual souls converge, when all the people who ever lived, when it all comes together, our descendents will meet – no, become the gods, the _Empyreal Virtue_. The final thoughts will become coalescent within the ultimate mind, and everything will be cleansed." He waved a hand. "All of this, our suffering, our grief, will pass, for it will have never happened, for the _Empyreal Virtue _will fix every tragedy that ever occurred."

Sakura frowned. "That is a very radical approach towards _Shinto_ beliefs, Kumano-san. But how do you _know?_ There is no proof to what you had just said."

Kumano didn't seem disturbed. Rather, he looked as if he understood her doubt. "Of course not. But past and future is not fixed. In fact, it changes. Do you believe in fate, Sakura-hime? I, for one, do not, for I believe that the future is shaped by our collective thoughts and actions. Past too can be changed; history is written and rewritten all the time. It is distorted, but the important thing is to know which past we learn from and which mistakes we try to correct. This ultimately will change the course of future. So if history can be changed, then it's not much of a leap of faith to imagine that someday someone will make a purposeful change and wipe away all of our tears, no?"

"It sounds like wishful thinking more than anything."

Kumano laughed out loud. "Perhaps. Nonetheless I think it is an interesting observation. You are a clever woman, Sakura-hime. I'm sure you will someday understand the truth."

She shrugged. "Maybe. I kind of doubt- ah!"

Had she not been so attentive to her surroundings she would've missed hearing the chirp of the messenger bird circling high above her head. She signaled to the bird and allowed it to come down onto her shoulder. She quickly untied the small piece of paper on its leg and read its simple message.

It was from the Sixth Hokage.

"_Sakura, need to talk to you. Come to my office." _

She looked up from the note and bowed apologetically to Kumano. "I'm sorry, but I have been called. I actually enjoyed talking to you, Kumano-san. Perhaps we can meet again."

The large man smiled warmly. "Please, do not let this old man's presence keep you. It has been a pleasure meeting you, Sakura-hime. Do take care of yourself."

She bowed once before she flickered away in a blink of an eye, leaving behind a single petal of sakura floating in the air.

* * *

Kumano stood in front of the Shinobi Memorial for a little while longer before he crouched down and brushed his fingers against the white lily flower Sakura had put down in front of the stone just earlier.

"You'll eventually understand." Kumano said to himself quietly. "Setsuka."

His face was neutral as he stood up tall, hands coming together in a seal, erupting into a cloud of white smoke. When it cleared, his appearance was now different; the color of his skin changed into something more pale, his new silver hair slicked all the way back, and he had discarded his red robe in favor of a large enveloping cloak with the pattern of swirling red clouds.

Within the Chrysanthemum Guards, there were three different sects: the 'Twilight', the 'Midnight', and the 'Dawn'. While it was true that this man belonged to the 'Dawn' sect of the Guards, they were also known by another, more infamous name.

_The Akatsuki will not end. We will continue to exist in the Shadows. We are the dawn, and forever will be. _

He was not Kumano any longer. He was now Hidan, the _San_ of the Akatsuki.

He soon disappeared from view in a rush of dead leaves.

* * *

The office of the Sixth Hokage was unglamorous. It was nothing more than a small room with a desk stacked full of papers, two chairs – one behind the desk and one in front – and a bunk in the far right corner implying that the Hokage had sometimes spent entire days cooped up in the office. The only luxury in the desolate office seemed to be a coffee machine in the left corner, and even then Sakura sometimes wondered if that coffee machine was more like a necessity rather than a luxury in order to keep the Hokage constantly awake with a dose of caffeine. How thoughtful.

After Tsunade had retired from Hokage duties ten years previous, her mentor had left the Hidden Leaf along with Shizune. As far as she knew her shishou was traveling all over the world in her usual gambling spree with Shizune helplessly trailing after her and covering her tracks in avoiding the debt collectors just like old times. Tsunade had declared it was 'retirement privileges' but Sakura knew that Tsunade simply didn't want to stay in the village where the ever-corrupt village council that had imprisoned her last hope ruled any longer. Kakashi was a strong Hokage during his years in office but that still didn't deter the powers held by the elders of noble clans gathered from all around the Country of Fire. Even after Fifty years the memories of the Kyuubi attacks lived on strong in their minds.

Most of Kakashi's support came from Jiraiya, who was the very man who had recommended him to the title of the Sixth in the first place. He had convinced Tsunade and the council that he was one of the strongest and most experienced ninjas alive, and with his experience as a diplomat during his long-term mission in Cloud he was skilled in negotiations as well. Jiraiya was a strong persuader if he really put his mind into it. Unfortunately, he still wandered about the lands in the name of his 'research' and wasn't frequently present inside the village boundaries. There was no telling which bathhouse in Fire Country he would next show himself in.

When she entered the office she found him standing, pacing about as he stared at a few pieces of paperwork. When he noticed her coming in he waved her into a chair as he sat himself down in the opposite.

"Sorry to drag you away from his lecture." He said, and then chuckled. "You don't need to look so surprised. Of course I know about the man from the Chrysanthemum Guards. He was the one who came to me first and asked permission if he could see you and if he could hold a small speech at the memorial." He leaned back in his chair. "So what did you think of him?"

"He was… peculiar."

Kakashi's lips grew into a grin behind his mask. "You know, the missionaries, they're all not bad. Their talks comforts people."

"I know. That's why they're so successful in the first place, I suppose."

"It's not like they show up around here all the time too, Sakura. Only like maybe once a year or so. "

"I know."

"And the man – what was his name?"

"Kumano."

"Right, Kumano. He assured you that there would be no further interference from the other sects of missionaries now that the Emperor has officially acknowledged your studies right? So why the blue face?"

Sakura was silent.

Kakashi leaned forward. "Look, we allow them into the village walls not only because they are from the Capital and hold the authority, but because it gives people something to fight for. Motivation is a fragile thing. Sometimes the thought of fighting for the sake of the village is not enough. And that man's theory about the _Empyreal Virtue-_"

"You don't believe that, do you Kakashi-sensei?"

"No, I don't. But I can't deny that it's useful, Sakura. The thought that the _Empyreal Virtue _exists or will exist comforts people when they fall in battle. I know many, you included, disapprove of such… how should I put it, unscientific thought? But we are ninjas, Sakura. We always will have to fight for our survival one way or another. I'm willing to accept anything if it means keeping morales high."

"But religions in the extreme misguides people."

"_Anything_ in the extreme will misguide people. Look, I don't want to name examples but if you really want to put it that way, you can say that the Hidden Leaf itself is a religion. I mean, people can say I'm the High Priest and the people who obey the laws of the village are the followers. And you know what? They wouldn't be that wrong. There's a fine line to it all, Sakura. As far as I'm concerned, I don't care where their faith lies as long as they do an effective job. And as long as they do, what right do we have to care what goes on in their heads?"

Sakura was still silent but this time she wore a scornful frown.

"Do you think I'm a horrible person?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm having trouble understanding why you feel this way."

He nodded, apparently not offended. "It's not that I don't care or understand. But as Hokage, it is my responsibility to manage ninjas from birth to death and send them into war. It's the distance, I suppose. It's just my job." He sighed. "Allow me to change the subject. If you'd be willing of course."

"Go ahead."

"What do you think about the Sound-Leaf war now?"

"It was a screwup." She said with strong feeling.

"You think so?"

"Of course it was. The initial assault was mistimed and off-target. Our line was broken before we even entered their territory. The reinforcements sent from the Sand were exposed and they walked right into traps. We were lucky to come out of that war with a victory."

Kakashi laughed dryly. "I see that you're a perfectionist. There are always mistakes in war. But the important thing is that we won, _despite_ the mistakes, and you and Sai managed killed Orochimaru at the very end. You just need to have the right perspective, Sakura."

"I was the _only_ survivor in my squad, Kakashi-sensei."

"I'll give you the brutal truth. It doesn't matter how many fall as long as the end justifies the means. And if you didn't act the way you did back then, the losses would've been higher still."

Her head bowed downwards. "I should've died." She said bitterly.

"Don't say that. Sai sacrificed his life to save yours so you in turn could save many others with your medical skills."

"Kakashi-sensei…"

He seemed to suppress a sigh. "The cost of a single life is always too high, isn't it? Even knowing that he was only one person among the thousands of lives lost in the war doesn't reduce the significance of that someone you once knew."

She hesitated before she asked her question. "You feel like this too?"

"No, not anymore. But that doesn't mean that I don't know how you feel, Sakura. Not just about Sai, but about Sasuke and… Naruto too."

She winced. He had hit his mark. The fists resting on her laps tightened. "I… don't want to stop feeling like this."

"If you're smart enough for responsibility, Sakura, then you're smart enough to understand the situation we're all in, and the choices we have to make."

She looked up from her bow. "Responsibility?"

"My job offer from two days ago is still valid, Sakura. Are you still interested?"

* * *

"Sakura-chan, you're here a lot nowadays."

She looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eye. "What, Naruto, you don't want me here?"

He shook his head vigorously. "No, no! It's just… I'm worried, you know? I mean… the village…"

She laughed uneasily. "Don't worry about it, Naruto. They don't talk about that nowadays."

His eyes widened. "They don't?"

She grinned. "I'm the Fifth Hokage's apprentice. No one dares to go against her, and so no one dares to goes against me too. Even if they do have something to say." She hoisted her fist up in the air. "Then they'd have to answer to this!"

"Ahhh…" Understanding slowly dawned on him. He shuddered. Women were so scary. Sakura truly was the successor of Tsunade.

Their topics of conversation drifted towards their friends and comrades.

"Everyone's still doing good." Sakura said. "Working hard for the sake of the village."

"Ahh, that's good. Everyone's probably all Jounin or ANBU now huh… did Hinata inherit the Hyuuga House? Or did Neji? Oh, and did Shikamaru get a girlfriend yet?"

Suddenly, Sakura head dropped into the ground, and before he could ask what was wrong she embraced him in a tight hug. "Sa-Sakura-chan?" His startled voice echoed across the walls of the garden.

"D-Don't…"

Naruto waited. Perhaps she was about to tell him what was bothering her now. "Sakura-chan…"

She slowly got off him and stood up, leaving behind a confused Naruto on the ground. "…No, it's nothing. Sorry."

Nodding once in understanding, they went back to staring at the moonlight at the ceiling. After she seemed to have calmed down a bit, Sakura returned to the conversation topic. "The Hyuuga House… was inherited by Neji just the other day. Shikamaru apparently does have a girlfriend. You'll be surprised who."

"Who?"

"Temari."

That was a surprise indeed. "Wow… not Ino?"

Sakura nodded. "Ino's dating Chouji. They'll probably get married."

"Wow, really? Chouji's a good guy, I'm sure he'll make her happy!"

"Yeah…"

A rather awkward pause settled over them. They continued to lie in the middle of the moonlit flowers for a few hours.

Without warning, Sakura suddenly gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Good night, Naruto."

Before he knew what had just happened, she had already closed her eyes and was fast asleep next to him. Naruto, smiling, softly covered her with a blanket and watched her sleeping face. The faint moonlight illuminated her figure, and he had truly thought right there that she was beautiful. He backed away from her, not wanting to ruin her peaceful slumber.

"Good night, Sakura-chan."

* * *

She dreamed good dreams that night.

She dreamed of her scene with Kakashi in his office, accepting his offer of taking up the title of Hokage.

She dreamed of her inauguration.

She dreamed of her rise into power.

She dreamed of disbanding the village council.

She dreamed of freeing Naruto.

And in her dream, Naruto was happy.

But she…

She was sad.

She was still going to age.

She was still going to die.

When the dream ended, she only realized that the rip between her world and Naruto's world had already grown impossibility wide.

And in the corner of her mind, she muttered a silent prayer to the _Shinto_ gods, wishing, hoping, that the _Empyreal Virtue_ the man had preached – were real.

But that hope too, soon faded.

* * *

_**- Seventh Entry - **_

"_**Justice" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Sixth Hokage, Tenth year. March 4th. _

_50 years old. Year 35 of Imprisonment. _

_I told Naruto that I still was the apprentice of Tsunade-sama, although I have long since learned everything from my shishou and had even taken up students of my own. _

_In his mind, he and I are still 25 years old after all. _

_He talks a lot about his friends he made during the Genin days nowadays. Although he had gone through harsh times, it was probably the best days of his life. _

_He then asks about the Hyuuga family and if Shikamaru had a girlfriend. I felt really sad then and reacted in a way I shouldn't have, because out of all of my friends I was the only who still yet to have any family of sorts, although I'm already too old for that. My students, and Naruto, are the only things closest to a family that I'll ever have. _

_After I had calmed down I told him that Neji had just inherited the house, and Shikamaru and Temari were just seeing each other along with the revelation that Ino and Chouji were dating. The truth was, the Hyuuga just exchanged another set of heirs and Shikamaru and Temari had been happily married for over 25 years, while Ino was still the same love-struck lovebird with Chouji and had been married just as long as the other couple. The oldest kids from each of their families were planning on attending the Jounin exams this year. _

_Kakashi-sensei approached me the other day asking if I was interested in taking up the job of Hokage. He seemed old when he talked, but he was still the same man I knew since I was a child. He still had that damned mask on his face and I still have yet to see his true face. I agreed, perhaps as a Hokage I could arrange something to help Naruto out. It was going to be busy again. _

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

That was perhaps the oddest chapter that I had ever written. It actually took me some decent research to write this all out, too.

Since religions were never really introduced within the canon _Naruto_ world, the many different aspects of _Shinto_ introduced in this chapter were made up. I even had to introduce the semi-OC Akatsuki member (I only say semi because the character itself actually exists, except we're not privy to the real details yet) to explain a few things in order to allow the smooth flow of the story. So although _Shinto_ is actually the name of an actual Japanese religion, do note that the _Shinto_ in this story is different from real-world _Shinto_, albeit many parts are based on the real religions from bits and pieces I remember in my mind.

I actually have had doubts if it were a good idea to introduce this religion aspect in this story since I'll bet many people wouldn't be interested in the technical philosophical mumbo jumbo scattered about in this chapter. Actually, I guess this chapter _is _kind of like filler since this chapter explains things more than anything. Sigh. Need more action. Rest assured, however, all this explanation will have a point. Eventually.

About the next chapter: it actually occurred to me recently that I had absolutely _nothing_ planned for development for chapters eight and nine, so do expect delays – not that I have been keeping with my deadline as is, through. Just don't expect the next chapters to come out anytime soon while I think of something to do for those chapters… I mean, I _do_ have a _vague_ idea; it's just that I don't know what to write to fill up the gaps that needed to be filled since I never really described in detail the entries for chapters eight and nine in 'Garden of Sanctuary'.

As always, thanks for reading!

- Nes Mikel


	8. Hope

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_For what searches thou, to travel this far?" _

* * *

_**- Eighth Entry - **_

"_**Hope"**_

_Reign of the Seventh Hokage, Tenth year. November 21st. _

_60 years old. _

* * *

It is obvious to most that the medical system in Hidden Leaf was, and still continues to be, one of the best in the world. Konoha has a system so sophisticated but efficient it has the world's best infant mortality rates as well as the longest life spans for males and females, both ninjas and civilians alike. The village also provides access to universal healthcare – a revolutionary constitutional law that was first introduced when the Seventh Hokage succeeded the Sixth ten years ago.

One of the main reasons for its success has been credited to the Seventh. Wielding her head-of-state powers, she organized the central government in such a way that it provided the ability to evaluate diagnostic and treatment methods for safety, cost-effectiveness, and (almost) always producing the most desired result. The Seventh also devised and implemented an ingenious scheme that promoted the use of quality medical practice by rewarding such behaviour with higher salaries and bonuses for using what is deemed best for the patient. The system also did not limit choices in any way and allowed doctors and other medical specialists freedom to always do what was necessary as long as it was for the best.

These new additions and changes to the Hidden Leaf's medical system unexpectedly brought the village unprecedented power and wealth. The new reward-based medical system attracted countless medical specialists from around the world, many of them shunned and hated by the other countries and Hidden Villages for performing the art of biological science that were considered unethical according to orthodox _Shinto_ beliefs. And so they eagerly migrated to the Hidden Leaf, not only because the village promised them the freedom of practice, but also because it's top medical specialist who also happened to be the Hokage held a stamp of approval from the Emperor himself for medicinal research. This elevated the Hidden Leaf's position of medical superiority and at the same time reduced the medical capabilities of rival Hidden Villages.

The effects from the change did not end there. In addition of welcoming many medical specialists within their walls, the Hidden Leaf also attracted many new ninja clans and civilian families that wished to join the village. The reason was obvious enough – why take chances in joining other ninja villages when Konoha was the place that would most likely guarantee not only a safe life, but also a long life? Indeed, with the superior medical system in place, the Hidden Leaf was now not only saving more lives that otherwise would've been lost in the midst of battle, but also prolonging them. Mission mortality rates were at an all-time low, and with the implementation of four-man cell squads that put at least one med-nin within their ranks, success rates were also at an all-time high.

Furthermore, the treaties signed between the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sand ensured perhaps the strongest ever inter-village alliance seen in history. Joint missions between the two villages were commonplace and they established a shinobi exchange program that provided a drastic increase in both of their ninja militaristic capabilities. But what set this alliance apart from others was how open both villages were to each other. They allowed complete access to all of each other's facilities, exchanged information freely, traded goods without duty fees, held the Jounin exams together, and even allowed certain ninjas to wear both Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand forehead protectors at the same time by recognizing the right of dual-citizenship. This new right – first established when the Sixth Kazekage succeeded her younger brother after he retired – set off a wave of inter-village marriages between the two allied villages, further strengthening their bond.

With just a few changes into the system of her speciality, by tightening the bonds of alliance, and with the former Sound Country now annexed and put under the rule by the feudal lords of Fire Country, the Seventh Hokage Haruno Sakura led the Village of the Hidden Leaf into a new prosperous era.

However, one must be aware that the brighter the light, the longer the shadow.

She was not without darkness.

* * *

The pain came to her all too suddenly.

"Hmm, Sakura? What's the matt-"

She couldn't answer Temari; she tried to open her mouth to scream, but as luck would have it her body would not even allow her that movement. As bright spots of red were flashing all over in front of her eyes, all she could do was to let gravity take a hold of her as she slumped onto the conference table like a doll without strings.

"Lady Hokage…?"

Sakura distantly heard the surprised gasp of the other village leader she invited to this conference. As her consciousness slowly faded away, she silently cursed. Why now? Why did her past have to catch up with her now?

"_Hokage-sama!" _

The doors slammed open. Her attendants waiting outside the conference room rushed in to help.

_Sai, you bastard. Even after all these years, you torture me so. _

They were her last thoughts before her consciousness finally followed her into the dark.

* * *

_beep _

_beep _

_beep_

The steady sound coming from the machine and the calm breathing by the four individuals in this room were the only things he could hear as he calmly looked at the Lady Hokage lying on the bed. She looked so peaceful. It was so hard for him to imagine that this frail, young-looking girl was in actuality a 60-year old woman, the leader of the most powerful Hidden Village and its strongest kunoichi alive.

_beep _

_beep _

_beep _

_b- _

_b-beep _

_b-beep _

The tone of the life support machined changed. He threw a careful glance at one of the women in this room. "Is she coming to?" He asked the woman.

He didn't get a response immediately; instead, the white-eyed attendant carefully approached the bed and busied herself by checking all vital signals on the machine. "…It is a good sign." She said after a while. "Her condition seems to have stabilized, but I'm afraid she won't be regaining consciousness for at least a few good hours. If she-" She trailed off.

A sad smile danced on his lips. "If she ever wakes up. Right?" He finished the sentence for her.

The attendant gritted her teeth and glared at him with all the hatred she could muster.

"Please don't take it the wrong way." He reassured her as he raised his hands up in mock surrender. "I understand perfectly. You have my word that I will not let this news spread. I know it won't do your village good if rumor spreads that the Lady Hokage is currently in a coma she may never recover from. I am only here because I am merely concerned for her health."

A look of doubt was what he got in return.

He sighed. "You doubt me. I guess that can't be helped, considering our two village's past." He tore his gaze away from the attendant and calmly looked out of the window of the hospital room and gazed at the winter scenery outside. "Besides," He put his hands down and turned his attention towards the fourth and final occupant of this hospital room. "Even if I did have malicious intents, I wouldn't dare try anything funny with the Kazekage herself present in this room."

"Hmph." The other woman huffed as she stopped leaning against the wall and took a step towards his direction. "A wise decision."

The Sixth Kazekage of the Hidden Sand. Nara Temari.

"Lady Kazekage," He said. "I'm not stupid enough to make enemies out of not just one, but two of the Five Great Hidden Villages. Orochimaru proved that well enough."

"I see you know your history."

He tried his best to ignore the elderly female's sarcastic comment. He instead nodded and tried to look distant. "It is a pity that history always seems to repeat."

She stepped forward a few more paces until she was shoulder to shoulder with him. She then threw him a suspicious glare. "Should I take that as a threat?"

There was a hint of challenge shining in her eye. He sighed again in resignation. "Must my words always be interpreted as a sign of aggression? I'm only attempting at conversation, Lady Kazekage."

She stared at him for a while before she turned to the attendant standing guard next to the bed of the Hokage. "Hanabi, please, leave us for a moment."

"But…"

"I'll be okay. I'll make sure he doesn't try anything funny against Sakura."

Hanabi's gaze drifted back and forth between the man and the Lady Kazekage, looking doubtful and obviously worried. That soon passed, however, and Hanabi signaled she understood by bowing her head down low in front of her. "As you wish, Kazekage-sama." She then quickly retreated towards the exit and quietly shut the door behind her.

"It's not going to be easy earning your trust, is it?" He said as soon as the Hokage's attendant left the room.

"_Our_ trust, you mean." Temari said with her back still turned. "And no, it's not going to be easy, Raikage-dono."

The man wearing the symbol of 'Thunder' on his head pinched the edge of his Kage hat with his fingers and tipped it slightly upwards. "Yes, of course. But with the condition Lady Hokage is in now-"

He wasn't even close to finishing when Temari interrupted him all too suddenly. "You can cut the act now, Sakura. I know you're awake."

The Raikage was quite surprised when the Lady Hokage obeyed her command and opened her eyes.

"…Temari-san." She smiled weakly. "How long was I out?" She asked. Her voice was frail.

"Two, three hours, give or take. You seriously gave us a scare back there, Sakura. You all right now?"

"…Never better."

"Hmph. I'll take that as a no then."

"Haha… you're bossy as always."

"Of course! I always have keep an eye out for you, you know!"

While the two women shared a heartfelt laugh together, the Raikage was left all alone in the background, not quite know how to make out of all this.

"So, what, was this all just a test or something?"

It was Temari who answered first. "No."

"Then what…?"

"I'm sorry, Raikage-dono." This time it was Sakura. "It's just that… if I wake up in front of Hanabi, she goes all teary in front of me." She chuckled a little. "I don't want to see her like that. It just doesn't suit her."

"But…" He scratched his head. "Hyuuga Hanabi is your personal apprentice and one of the most respected med-nins throughout all villages, is she not? And she couldn't tell if you were conscious…?"

Her smile widened by just a tad. "I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, Raikage-dono."

He wasn't sure if he understood. "I… see…"

She flashed him a comforting smile before she sat up from her bed. She turned towards him and bowed lightly. "Nevertheless, I apologize for having interrupted our conference that way Raikage-dono. I'm afraid I'm not as healthy as I was before."

"…So your seizure-"

"Yes, it wasn't an act I'm afraid. My condition just keeps getting worse and worse as I get older."

"Sakura, you shouldn't…"

"It's all right, Temari-san." Sakura interrupted Temari mid-sentence, reassuring her. "The other villages are going to find out about my condition sooner or later. Besides, it's not as if my strength matters. It's the village's."

"It's still advantageous to make your enemies think you're still strong." The Lady Kazekage reasoned.

"Enemies, perhaps. But the Raikage, he's different, Temari-san. I trust him. He is not our enemy."

The statement took the leader of the Hidden Cloud by surprise yet again. "Er, Lady Hokage, I'm honored you think that way, but-"

He was cut off mid-sentence yet again when it turned out he wasn't the only one that was taken by surprise after all. "Sakura, don't just jump to conclusions _that _quickly!" Temari half-shouted as her normally upbeat expression quickly turned into that of disapproving concern. "Remember? This is the same village that declared war on your village-"

"Half a century ago, Temari-san." Sakura reminded her. "That's more than enough time. We won't make any progress if we dept on dwelling on the past."

The Raikage didn't miss how her expression turned somewhat sorrowful when she said that. It was as if she almost didn't want to believe what she just said. "After all," She continued once her sad expression faded away. "We managed to stop dwelling on our two village's pasts. Why should this be any different from how we overcame ours?"

"But trust needs _basis_, Sakura." The blonde Kazekage insisted. "You can't just meet someone for the first time and decide that he can be trusted right there and then! And this guy here-" She rudely pointed a finger at him. "He staged a _coup d'etat_, assassinated the Ninth Raikage, overthrew the former Cloud government and established himself as the Tenth Raikage and Thunder Country's Judgemaster! I, for one, don't trust this murdering, thieving, lying sonnovabitch _one bit_. Hell, he even said it himself that you shouldn't trust him so soon!"

"Now excuse me, I didn't-"

"Shut up." She snapped and glared at him. "And your caring, goodie-goodie attitude. I know your type, _Raikage_. It only makes you that much more suspicious."

"I understand how you might feel about that incident in our village, but I assure you, the Ninth needed to be overthrown. He was corrupt, and-"

"That's the excuse all dictators give, you moron."

His brows twitched in irritation. He was usually tolerant, but this woman was going to far. "Lady Kazekage…"

She snickered. "Oh, what, you gonna show your true face now?"

"Temari-san!" The Lady Hokage finally intervened. "That's enough!"

Frustrated at her counterpart's words, the Kazekage threw her hands up in the air. "Dammit Sakura! Why are you giving him the benefit of doubt? Just what makes you think that you can trust this guy, huh?"

"He's helped me before, Temari-san. That's why."

"Wait, wait, what? Helped? Him?" She pointed a finger at him again.

The Raikage threw her a questioning look. "Lady Hokage, while I do appreciate you showing trust in my attempts of good will, I must admit that this is the first time we have ever met. Unless the help you're referring to is by some indirect means…"

She shook her head. "That's not true, Raikage-dono. We've met once before."

Doubt filled his mind once again, but just to make sure he ran another quick check through his memories to find a match to her face. Eventually he too shook his head sideways. "I'm sorry, Lady Hokage, but I cannot recall…"

She chuckled a bit. "Well, it was a long time ago, and neither of us were leaders of our respective villages back then. And I must admit, our meeting didn't happen under the best of circumstances. I won't hold it against you if you don't remember. I was wearing a mask at the time anyway."

It took him a few moments for the words to sink in, but once it registered his memories finally matched the description she was giving him. "Lady Hokage… you… you were the one from… that time?"

Her lips thinned into a small smile. "I'm glad you remembered." Swaying her legs over to the side of the bed, she then bowed deeply forward, the greatest show of respect a Hidden Village leader could ever show.

"I owe you a great debt in covering for us when my then-superior and I escaped from the Hidden Cloud." She said. "And for that, you have the Hidden Leaf and my undying support, and I hereby proclaim that I accept your proposal for the Leaf-Sand-Cloud mutual-defense treaties - Tenth Raikage of the Hidden Cloud and Judgemaster of Thunder Country, Teradaya Shougo-dono."

* * *

"Kaoru-sama, look!" The small, petite woman happily bounced up and down. She was always too energetic for her own good. "The river! It's pretty!"

"Kobi! Behave yourself! You're being an embarrassment!"

"But Tsuno-neechan…!"

Kaoru couldn't help but smile at the how the two carried themselves about. She turned to her eldest lady-in-waiting and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's quite all right, Tsuno. Let Kobi be."

Or at least, she tried to. Tsuno continued to uphold that righteous, disapproving expression. "No, it's not all right!" She exclaimed, shrugging off Kaoru's hand rather violently. "We are in the midst of a diplomatic mission! Our behavior on our part can and will reflect back on our entire village! What we must be is calm, collected, and professional! Not like Kobi and running around the village like an excited, immature child! She's 28 already for god's sake!"

Her harsh declaration put Kobi on the verge of tears. "Tsuno-neechan…! Uu…"

"Arrrgggh! No, no! Don't cry! Don't you dare-"

Too late – the youngest of her three ladies-in-waiting sunk onto her knees and erupted into a fountain of tears. As Tsuno moved in and tried hysterically to comfort her hysterical youngest sister, Kaoru turned to the elderly woman standing to her side. "Please forgive their behavior, Hyuuga-san. They're always, um, like that."

The dark-haired woman with the two large buns in her hair returned her apology with a smile. "I don't mind. It's actually quite nice to see such cheerfulness for a change." She then breathed out an absentminded sigh and looked at the clear blue sky up ahead. "Despite the changes in times, my house is still just too uptight for their own good sometimes."

Ever so carefully, Kaoru stole a glance at the side of the Hyuuga woman's face. She wasn't exactly sure if the mood was right, but sooner or later she had to ask. The curiosity was slowly eating away at her from the inside. As her hands shifted nervously behind her, she decided to ask the question that had been nagging her all day long. "Hyuuga-san… I…"

"Tenten is just fine. If I can get to call the Raikage's matron Kaoru, that is." The matriarch of the Hyuuga clan winked at her.

Slightly taken aback by the abrupt display of friendliness, Kaoru nodded back feverishly. "That's… oh! That's, that's perfectly fine with me, Hyuuga-sa… I mean, Tenten-san!"

"Much better. Well then, you wanted to ask me about something Kaoru?"

"Um, well…" The nervous feeling returned. The mood _still_ wasn't right. She didn't know how exactly this woman felt about an issue that was decades old, but Karou _did_ know that ancient hatreds never really went away. She was ready to call the whole thing off by telling the Hyuuga matriarch to just forget it when the third and last of her ladies-in-waiting solved that problem for her.

"Kaoru-sama wishes to express the utmost gratitude for volunteering to be our guide around the village today, Hyuuga-sama."

Kaoru winced. "Oki…!"

Calm as always, her stone-faced attendant coolly stared back at her. "Was I wrong, Kaoru-sama?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Oh, so that's what's been worrying you?" A short burst of laughter from the famed weapon mistress of Konoha's _kyuuninshuu _followed. "You're more timid than I thought! Hahaha! I'm sure you and Hinata will get along just fine!"

Kaoru didn't know exactly how she should respond, but she was sure the Hyuuga woman didn't mean any harm in the small insult when she told Kaoru she was timid. So she settled with changing the topic, if only slightly. "Hinata-san… the Inuzuka clan's…?"

Tenten nodded. "Yeah, Kiba's wife. She was a Hyuuga once and it's one-time head. After she was initiated as the clan's leader she abolished that stupid law that separated the Main and Branch families and reunited them as one, and after that was done she then forfeited her right as a Hyuuga, married Kiba and became an Inuzuka, and named Neji – my husband – as the heir of the clan. Well, it's easy to sum it up in a few words, but it was some serious drama back then."

"Oh, I see…" Kaoru replied only half-heartedly. She wasn't really paying much attention and instead preoccupied herself with conflicting thoughts. So it took Kaoru a few good seconds to realize that Tenten was staring at her face right in front of her. "W-What's the matter Tenten-san?" She asked, startled.

"You're worried, aren't you?"

"W-Worried?" Dammit, why was she acting all nervous like this in front of her? She _was_ becoming timid!

"You're worried because I'm an Hyuuga, right? Especially because our clan and your village have shared some… _unpleasant_ history together?"

Kaoru was at a loss for words. She had said precisely what was on her troubled mind. "Er, I…"

"Kaoru-san." Tenten said. She spoke in a formal manner. "Hizashi-sama's incident… it happened a long time ago. It happened before you were even _born_. That's why when I heard that the Raikage's family was coming to the Hidden Leaf to attend a peace conference I immediately volunteered to be the one to guide you around the village. To show you that at least one person in the Hyuuga clan does not harbor any malice towards you, nor the Village of the Hidden Cloud."

"Tenten-san…"

"I may not be a Hyuuga by birth, but I am by heart. So just relax. Know that there is at least one person in our clan that is sympathetic to your mission of peace."

"I guess… I'm making progress."

Tenten smiled. "You sure are! Now come, there's still much I have to show you around the village!"

"Y-Yes!"

* * *

"How was she?"

She shook her head as sat down on the hospital bench besides him. "Honestly… I don't know. Vitals show that her condition has reached stabilization so she's on her road to recovery, but I'm worried, Kono. This is the third time she collapsed this week. Maybe if we perform a few more clinical lab tests and outsource her condition and examine properly the proposal put forward by that new herbal paramedic that came from Water Country-"

"Spare me the lecture, Hanabi, I know all that. I may have not decided to become a medic-nin like you, bit I once was a student of hers too, you know."

Hanabi sighed and reluctantly gave him her answer. "…Best case: she wakes up in an hour or two. Worst case: maybe never."

Hearing the news, the man cursed under his breath. "Shit."

She covered her face with both of her hands as her body sunk lower into the bench. "I… I did everything I could, Kono. I… I just don't know what more to do anymore."

Hyuuga Konohamaru moved in a little closer and comfortingly embraced his wife from the side. "Shh… it's going to all right, Hanabi, it's all going to be all right." He said in the most soothing voice possible, cradling her smaller body in his arms. "She'll be fine. She's always made it through everything so far, right? She'll pull through. She always has."

Hanabi pulled her hands away from her face and revealed her pale-lavender eyes filled with tears. "Kono… the situation's changed. At the rate her health is deteriorating… Sakura-sensei… I don't know if she'll still be alive by the end of the year."

"…………"

"…It's like cancer, Kono, only worse. The backlash from her double _souzou saisei _caused an endless cycle of regeneration and decomposition of her organic cells, and the reoccurring program that causes it is permanently embedded in her entire biological structure. As a result, her physical psyche is undergoing constant deterioration even after it's been thirty years since she used the technique. Even the jutsu that's keeping her youthful appearance up is crumbling down… and I… and I…!"

He pulled her closer to him. "I know Hanabi, I know…"

"…Guys."

Konohamaru's eyes moved away from Hanabi and towards the person who had walked up to them just now. "Udon. You made it."

The middle-aged man with glasses nodded back sympathetically. "…I heard what happened. She alright?"

He was referring to both Hanabi and their teacher. "Hanabi will be fine, she's just an emotional wreck right now."

Hanabi reacted to this instantly. "I am not!" She protested rather loudly, but not before she realized that she had shouted in the midst of Konoha Hospital's intensive care unit. Her face soon turned tomato red from embarrassment.

Seeing this, Udon huffed and curved his lips into a small grin. "Right." His original expression soon returned. "And sensei?"

"Vitals are improving, conditions are stable, but… you know her situation." Konohamaru paused a bit as he shifted a little to the side to offer Udon room to sit on the bench. "How's the Village Council taking the news?" He asked his best friend once he sat down.

"You want their official reaction or their unofficial reaction?"

"…Both, I guess. Official first."

Udon's eyes became distant. It was clear he was hesitant. "They want to name a new heir before the year is over." He said after a long pause.

"Sakura-sensei doesn't need to name a new heir yet!" Hanabi retorted, albeit this time she made sure to keep her voice down. "Tsunade-sama ruled the village for twenty-eight years: this is still Sakura-sensei's tenth year as Hokage! We still need her, we all need-"

"The Village Council doesn't think she'll last that much longer, Hanabi. And you know they're right." Udon replied coolly.

Hanabi started to growl, but before she could say another word Udon had cut her off. "Hanabi, don't get me wrong. I mean, generally speaking, even the Village Council all appreciate Sakura-sensei for what she's done, both as Hokage and as a ninja of the Hidden Leaf. But the fact is… during her years as Hokage, Sakura-sensei had been applying constant pressure on the Village Council, restricting their influence and power, cutting funds for their personal ANBU units, etcetera, etcetera. They're all not that dumb, you know. They all know that she was pouring in a lot of effort into disbanding their entire organization. They feel their existence threatened with her as Hokage."

"I take it that's their 'unofficial' reaction." Konohamaru said.

Udon nodded. "Yeah. I'll bet they're all jumping up and down in joy inside. And we can't do a damn thing about it."

"What about your wife, Udon?" Hanabi tried. "She's the leader of the Village Council, can't you convince her to give us more time? I'll find a cure for Sakura-sensei's condition. I'll definitely-"

"_Former_ wife, Hanabi. She divorced me a long time ago. Remember?"

"I know that. But she _was_ your wife. You still must have some influence over her."

"Some, maybe, but definitely not enough, especially for something as important as this. And Moegi is pretty adamant about maintaining the Village Council's position of power. And although Sakura-sensei does want the council disbanded, truth is, she's actually pretty reluctant about it. She feels conflicted. You both know the reason why."

Konohamaru sighed. "Sensei doesn't have to feel guilty about Moegi. It was a long time ago, and it wasn't even her fault. Sure, I mean at first when Sakura-sensei took over Ebisu-sensei's position we were doubtful, we all were. But looking back at it now, I wouldn't have it any other way. Not that I wanted Ebisu-sensei dead, of course."

"…It's not the same with Moegi, Konohamru. She was deemed unable to return to active duty and she was _replaced_. No offence, Hanabi."

"None taken."

Konohamaru frowned. "Pulling her out of active duty was for the best. With the trauma she suffered-"

"Do you think Moegi cares about that? She feels _betrayed_, Konohamaru. Not just us, not just Sakura-sensei, but by the entire village. That's the reason why she divorced me although I was the one who helped her recover from her trauma. And being Koharu's successor, there's no way I can get any support from Moegi. Just like her grandmother before her, Moegi views Sakura-sensei as her _enemy_."

Both Konohamaru and Hanabi were silent as they let Udon's words sink in.

"And," Udon continued. "Member of the council I may be, there's little I can do just by myself. And with Hiashi-san withdrawing from the council for health reasons, there's simply no other allies within the council to hope for."

Hanabi slowly smacked the palm of her hand onto her forehead. "Goddamnit… I should've taken over father's place in the council when I had the chance. But why, why does everything have to be so … so complicated…?"

A tense silence passed between the three before Konohamaru spoke again. "Udon, let's imagine worst case scenario. Say that Sakura-sensei passes away-"

"Kono! Goddamnit, how could you…!"

"Hanabi, calm down, I'm only talking about possibilities here. And if we don't think of possibilities, and if – I say _if_ – that possibility becomes reality, what are we going to do when it actually happens?"

"…………"

"Hanabi, look. I know you care for Sakura-sensei a lot, but sometimes… we just have to come terms with the reality right in front of us. Of course I want to see Sakura-sensei healthy, alive. But with the way things are going now…"

Hanabi didn't answer.

Konohamaru understood her silence. He gave her a quick, comforting hug before he turned to Udon again. "Anyway, as I was saying-"

"Worst case scenario." Udon repeated it for him. "You want to know who are the candidates for the Eighth?"

Konohamaru nodded.

Udon pushed up the frame of his glasses with his prosthetic hand. "Well… the _kyuuninshuu_ are obvious candidates, but some may argue that they're already all too old – not that's stopped the village before, of course. Shikamaru-san or Neji-san maybe, but I kind of doubt any of them will be willing to take up the job. As for others… well, the three of us are possible candidates. And then there's the usual batch of people we never even heard about but who just so happen to have friends in high places or are related to certain members of the Village Council."

Konohamaru spared himself a moment to carefully contemplate Udon's words. "In your honest opinion, Udon. Who's the most likely candidate?" Konohamaru asked.

"…It's probably going to be a toss up between one of us or some random guy the council names… but I really don't know. The council does have major influence when it comes to naming successors."

Hanabi scoffed at Udon's words. "The moment some random guy becomes Hokage, I'm defecting from this village."

Konohamaru laughed dryly. "You probably won't be the only one, Hanabi. The Village Council isn't exactly popular with a lot of clans Naruto bro was involved with back then. The Leaf-Sand alliance will most likely go sour too if that happens. Let's just hope the council isn't stupid enough to jeopardize the village by naming their puppet the successor."

Udon sighed. "I don't know, Konohamaru. They _can_ be that stupid sometimes. They're only concerned with maintaining their power, after all."

"Well then." Konohamaru stood and pumped his fist into the air. "More the reason to make sure Sakura-sensei doesn't croak and kick the bucket!"

"While I do appreciate you showing concern for me," A new voice suddenly cut in. "That isn't exactly the best way to go about, Konohamaru."

He recognized that new voice. And to say he was shocked by that voice would be a severe understatement.

"Sa-Sakura-sensei!"

Indeed, there his mentor was, standing in front of her hospital room fully clad in her traditional Hokage robes. She was pale and looked like she was about to collapse any second, but the Sixth Kazekage to the left of her and the Tenth Raikage to the right were lending Sakura their shoulders and was supporting her up.

Seeing her teacher up and about again, Hanabi's motherly instincts kicked in and she was besides her almost instantly. "Sakura-sensei! You shouldn't get out of bed so soon! You still need plenty of rest, and-"

"I know, Hanabi, I know my own body better than anyone else. But before I rest, there are things I must do."

"No, Sakura-sensei! If you must, we'll do it for you! So please… "

She shook her head sideways. "Sorry Hanabi, but only I could do this. What you _could_ do, however, is to escort me back home."

"Sakura-sensei… why? You don't have to…"

The only answer Sakura gave Hanabi was her best smile.

Konohamaru knew that look. They all did.

_If we don't do as she says, we're all so dead. _

* * *

"Wow…! It's so… beautiful!"

"Indeed. Not only are there many different species of flowers in this garden, they are all in full-bloom. Very impressive."

Oki was right. It _did_ amaze Kaoru just how diverse the flowers in this garden were. Not only the majority of the winter-season flowers were displayed beautifully, within the mix there were the spring, summer, and fall-season flowers too. She almost couldn't believe her eyes at how the seemingly fragile plants had broken all laws of nature and defiantly opened their petals into the winter light.

"This is the Seventh's personal garden, right?" Kaoru asked Tenten, careful in her choice of words. "Are you sure we're all allowed inside here…?"

The Hyuuga matriarch only chuckled. "I'm sure she won't mind." Tenten plopped herself down in the center of the grassy open field located in the middle of the garden, where the five of them currently were. "I just wanted to share this place with you. It's my favorite place to be in the entire village."

Kaoru followed Tenten's lead and sat down next to her. "It's just… so stunning. Thank you, Tenten-san."

Tenten laughed. "No problem."

"Kaoru-sama! Look, look! Tulips! Aren't they pretty?"

"Kobi! How many times do I have to tell you-"

"But Tsuno-neechan-"

"They're at it again, aren't they?" Tenten remarked.

Embarrassed at her attendants' behavior, Kaoru could only close her eyes and droop her head down in shame. "I'm afraid they are…"

"Please forgive my sisters, Hyuuga-sama." Oki quietly said from behind. "They are quite immature at times."

Tenten merely shrugged. "As long as they don't make a mess… ah, watch it there, Kobi-chan! There's a indentation-"

"AAAAAAHHH!"

"…Never mind, too late."

"Dammit Kobi! Now you got your kimono all dirty! You know how long it took for me to make your kimono look just right? And I told you… argh! Don't cry again!"

Tenten turned to Kaoru. "You know, could I maybe, borrow your ladies-in-waiting for a few days? Honest to god, my house could use that kind of cheering up sometimes."

Kaoru answered Tenten with a broad smile. "Of course. I'm sure they'll be a great help."

For a few more moments, Kaoru, Tenten and Oki continued to enjoy the scenery that surrounded them while Tsuno and Kobi continued to chase each other around and around. But as Karou paused and studied the flowers that surrounded them a bit closer, she couldn't help but wonder why the flowers bloomed the way they were. She was about to ask Tenten when she suddenly felt a large hand rest on top of her head.

"You ladies look like you're having some fun. Mind if I join in?"

She was surprised at first at the voice, but once she turned to see whom he was Kaoru visibly relaxed. Although she might've never met him face to face before, she recognized this man. He _was_ famous, after all. The former Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, Hatake Kakashi.

"Not at all, Kakashi-san." Tenten answered. "What brings you here?"

"Just out for a walk." The former Sixth replied as he took his hand off Kaoru's head. He instead sat down besides her. "And who might this pretty lady be?"

Kaoru bowed her head. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Rokudaime-sama!" She greeted him politely. "My name is Teradaya Kaoru, Senior Diplomat of the Hidden Cloud!"

"She's also the wife of the Tenth Raikage." Tenten added.

There was a brief pause as the Sixth Hokage studied her for a moment, but soon he extended his hand to offer her a shake. "The pleasure is all mine, Kaoru."

She took the hand and shook on it. "Er, pardon my rudeness, but have we met before? You seemed to recognize me."

To this, the Rokudaime merely smiled. "I see you haven't lost your touch in being sharp, hmm?"

"…Eh?"

He let go of her hand. "I'll be more than glad to explain it all to you, but before that, Tenten."

"Yes?" The Hyuuga woman perked up at the mention of her name.

"A messenger boy from your house was looking for you. He should be dropping by soon."

Kakashi was true to his word. A few seconds later, a man, clad in standard issue Konoha Chuunin uniform arrived on the edges of the clearing with a puff of smoke. "Tenten-sama." The messenger addressed the weapon mistress. "A moment of your time, if you may please."

Tenten nodded and stood up. "Sorry Kaoru. Excuse me for a second."

"Please, go on ahead. Don't mind me."

Tenten followed the messenger as he led her to the edges of the garden. They seemed to be conversing about something.

Kaoru turned to Kakashi, about to ask what was going on. "Rokudaime-sama, what-"

The Sixth Hokage put a finger in front of her to silence her. A serious look domed his masked face. "Just wait. Let Tenten finish."

The conversation between Tenten and the Hyuuga clan messenger soon drew to a close and the messenger, his task done, disappeared. Looking solemn, Tenten returned to the clearing. "I'm sorry Kaoru," She apologized. "My house wants all members of their clan to return at once, myself included. There were still many places I wanted to take you around the Hidden Leaf, but…"

"You want me to guide her around the village for you instead, Tenten?"

She looked surprised at the former Hokage's offer. "Kakashi-san, that's very nice of you to offer, but I don't want to burden-"

"It won't be a burden. In fact, I insist. Please?"

"…Are you sure?" She asked again.

"Tenten-san," Kaoru said. "Like I said before, please, don't mind me. Your clan needs you, and I, for one, would be honored to have the former Sixth Hokage as my guide around the village."

"All right." Tenten said, sighing. "I leave her in your care, Kakashi-san. And don't try anything funny!"

Kakashi only laughed. "I wouldn't even dream of it!"

Giving him one last knowing look, Tenten jumped into the air and soon was gone.

"Well then!" Kakashi exclaimed, clapping his hands together as she stood. "Shall we take one last walk around the garden before I show you around someplace else? After all, I don't want to spoil our reunion!"

Kaoru gave him a puzzled look. "Reunion?"

He didn't seem to be listening to her as he gently grabbed Kaoru by the arm and helped her up. "Now let's see… the dango shop, perhaps? Or the newly renovated Ichiraku Ramen stands? Or perhaps, maybe even the local bookstore! There's a new copy of Icha Icha Paradise I want to pick up! Jiraiya-sama may have passed away, but his successor's work – Kohohamaru – is just pure gold. Oh, don't tell his wife that's he's writing such things, though. She doesn't know, and in the event Hanabi does find out, he'll be killed. Especially if she finds out that he's basing his work on his relationship with her."

Kaoru was utterly confused, but when Tsuno and Kobi came back to her side and she looked into their startled faces, all the pieces finally started to fall in the right place. Slightly afraid, she looked into the eyes of the Sixth Hokage and recognized the resemblance almost instantly. Those smiling eyes. That lecherous attitude. That _facemask_. Why? Why didn't she recognize them until now?

She was shaking when she asked the perhaps hardest question she ever asked in her forty year old life. "…Bashou… san?"

Kakashi nodded his silent affirmative.

"…Bashou… san!" The weight of the revelation was too much. Her legs lost their strength and she was about to collapse into the dirt ground but Senritsu Bashou… no, Hatake Kakashi was there to catch her. She looked up again and stared at his face. It was true. It _was_ he. "Bashou-san… Bashou-san! Uu… waaaaaahhhh!"

For a few minutes, Kakashi let Kaoru cry her heart out the twenty years worth of emotions she had forced in deep inside her. When she finally settled down a little, Kakashi gently patted her on the head and spoke her name. "Kaoru-chan."

"…Yes? Ba- I mean, Kakashi-san?"

"I'm… very sorry to hear about your father."

She shook her head as she wiped the tears off the edge of her palm. "I never considered the Ninth Raikage as my father, Kakashi-san. The moment he discovered I had no talent as a shinobi, he cast me away like a broken tool and never bothered to lift even a finger to help me. When Shougo-san assassinated him, I was relieved." She looked up and longingly looked into his eyes. "You were the only one that was ever like a father to me, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi laughed uneasily. "Well, I guess I should feel honored you think that way!"

"They are my honest feelings, Kakashi-san."

"Well then, I guess as a father I should ask my daughter this question." He carefully sat Kaoru back down on the grassy floor and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "Are you happy, Kaoru-chan?"

"I am. Am now."

He nodded, satisfied. He stood up and then looked at the three sisters who looked unsure how to react to this whole situation.

Ever the charmer, Kakashi solved that problem for them. "Why, you three sisters grew up to become mighty fine women! Now then, come on over here, let me grab a feel!"

Dead silence.

Happy screaming soon followed.

New tears flowed through Kaoru's eyes as she laughed joyfully from the bottom of her heart.

Her father hadn't changed at all.

* * *

"What a small world we all live in!" The Tenth Raikage exclaimed as he clasped his hands together. "We've known for the longest time that Bashou-san was a spy sent from the Hidden Leaf, but I never would've imagined him as the Sixth Hokage himself!"

"I was sent by the then Fifth Hokage Tsunade-sama to retrieve him in order to take him back to the village to initiate him as the Sixth." Sakura explained. "It just so happened that his cover was blown precisely the exact same moment when I was about get him out of your village."

"I see, I see." The Raikage nodded, taking every bit of information in. "And that's when I met you, when I broke into Bashou-san office when I tried to get him out the village myself."

"Yes, I was the Commander of the Leaf ANBU forces back then. I was chosen for the job." Sakura signaled Hanabi to stop for a moment. She followed it up with a small but respectable bow towards the Raikage. "As a representative of the Hidden Leaf, I must apologize, Raikage-dono, for even daring to send a shinobi to spy on your village."

He dismissed the apology with a wave of his hand. "Please, Lady Hokage, you don't have to apologize for such a thing. It's standard practice to try to plant spies in rival villages after all. In fact, we should be thanking you. Bashou – Kakashi-san rather – had helped tremendously in undermining the Ninth Raikage's authority. So when it came to staging the _coup d'etat_, overthrowing the Ninth was a relatively easy task. Let's just say, call it even?"

Sakura smiled as she rose from her bow. She was really beginning to like this man for being so reasonable. So unlike his corrupt predecessor. "Even it is." She then signaled Hanabi to continue, and her apprentice resumed pushing her teacher's wheelchair forward.

The six of them – herself, Temari, the Raikage, and her three apprentices – were currently walking in the streets of the Hidden Leaf headed towards her house. There, she had convinced Temari, she would show her the proof that the Tenth Raikage can be trusted, which, of course, Temari was doubtful of. When she explained this to her apprentices they too protested, insisting that they could get this 'proof' of hers for her. But when she reminded them of the 'fun fun traps' she had joyfully scattered around in her house for 'training purposes' when they were living with her at one time and reminded them of those _very _unpleasant memories they shared together, they too (very reluctantly) agreed. And so they accompanied her, to her residence, the Haruno clan household.

If the Haruno could be even called a clan, that is.

As far as she knew, since the death of her parents eleven years ago she was now the only member left in her own clan. Heck, as far as she knew she was the only ninja to ever come out of the family – both her parents were merchants of local grocery stores, the furthest thing you could be from a ninja in this village full of shinobi.

In fact, she knew almost next to nothing of her family's heritage save the fact that they were one of the many original families that settled the village when the First Hokage founded the Hidden Leaf – thus the origins of their noble status. But despite being one of the oldest families in the Hidden Leaf, she always did wonder why her parents were the only Haruno people she ever knew her entire life – she never knew any grandparents, never knew any uncles, never knew any cousins. The only recollection of any relative was a distant memory from when she was eight years old.

She had woken up one day in the middle of the night after a horrible nightmare. She dreamed of a monster, a horrible monster, soaked in blood, crashing through her window with red murder in his eyes. Just when he was about to pounce on her she woke up from her dream, frightened beyond belief. And as if that wasn't enough, she was horrified to discover that the window in her room was left wide open when she could've sworn that her mother had closed it shut before she went to sleep.

Scared out of her wits, she remembers climbing out of her bed and exited her room to seek comfort in the embrace of her parents. She opened the door to their room, about to ask if she could sleep with them tonight when she found that they weren't there. Afraid that the monster had gotten to her parents first she was about to scream when she heard voices coming from downstairs. Quietly tiptoeing down the flight of stairs, she discovers her parents in the middle of the living room, crying. Unsure if she should interrupt, she stood behind the shouji doors, eavesdropping on their conversation, learning that they were grieving over the loss of her mother's sister. She had been killed.

It only occurred to her much later that their parents were grieving over the loss of an aunt she never knew.

However, never once did she ask her parents about her lost aunt, or any other relatives for that matter. For Sakura, the only family that mattered was her parents, her friends, and her students. She had decided that if her parents wanted to be secretive about the members of their clan – because it was obvious, even to her, that they were trying their best to avoid the subject since they never told her about that aunt of hers even after she had apparently 'died' – they had every right. She was sure that one day the time would come when they would tell her everything. But that time never came, and with their deaths they had left Sakura with no clues to the mysteries of her heritage.

Of course, now that she was Hokage, she held privileges to do whatever she liked when it came to looking through the confidential personal records stored in Konoha archives. And one day, when she finally decided to look through the files that were to do with her family history, she had hoped that maybe, perhaps maybe, she would discover the answer to the question that had been haunting throughout her entire life.

_Who was Hyuuga Setsuka? _

She expected to find clues in her family's history. If she was related to that mysterious woman that many people had been referring her to, she was confident the confidential files would at least point her in the right direction. But when she finally mustered up enough courage to actually take a look at them, she was shocked to discover that all traces of her family's history had been wiped clean. Not even her parents were listed. According to official files, only she existed.

Who had done this? As far as she knew, only the Hokage held privileges to modify archive records, so the lists of suspects were very few. The Third? Tsunade-shishou? Kakashi-sensei?

…The Fourth?

So many questions. No answers.

There was only one option left to find out the truth. And the opportunity was now.

Her house was in front of them. They had arrived.

* * *

"Sakura, are you sure you want to do this?" Temari asked as soon as they stepped through the doorway of the mansion. "I mean, you don't have to strain yourself just to show me proof that this bastard here could be trusted with the treaty."

"Such harsh words…"

"You say something, Raikage?"

"No, nothing at all."

The Kazekage snorted but said nothing more. She turned her attention back to Sakura. "We can do this another day, you know." She said.

"…Sorry, Temari-san. But this… this, I have to."

Temari threw one last questioning look at the pink-haired woman before she shrugged and gave up. Although she knew it was useless trying to convince the stubborn girl, she had to at least give it a shot.

But now that Temari thought about it, this was the first time she actually ever set foot inside Sakura's house. For good reason too – for one, Sakura never really 'lived' in her house, for she spends the better part of her waking and sleeping hours cooped up inside the Hokage Tower or the Konoha Hospital. Another reason – and perhaps the most important one – was that when Sakura was promoted to Jounin and was ordered to shape her students into elite Chuunins, she had decided the best way to go about teaching her students was to convert her house into a house of horrors since her parents never really used the house too anyway.

Filling the house with traps, dungeons, pitfalls and the like, she turned her old home into a death machine that would've made difficult for even the most skilled of ninjas to come out unscathed. But Sakura, she ordered her students to actually _live _in the house so they would be better trained.

Needless to say, the place had left the three of them with plenty of bad memories.

Temari could see the three of them shifting about nervously as they treaded through the hallway. For now, however, they were safe as Sakura had flipped the deactivation switch preventing the traps from activating – which was earlier accompanied by a look or sheer shock on her student's faces since they apparently never knew such a thing existed.

She tried to look as sympathetic as she could.

They turned another corner in the hallway when Sakura suddenly stopped in front of a certain wooden door. "We're here." She said.

Temari heard Hanabi's gasp from behind. "This place is… sensei's…"

"Sakura…?"

Temari's worried words seemed to fall on deaf ears. "What you're about to hear and see… must never leave this house." Sakura turned and stared hard at all of them. "Do you swear?"

"Sakura, what-"

"Do you swear, Temari-san?" Her face was stern. She was serious.

Temari sighed, defeated. "I swear, Sakura."

Nodding once, the pink-haired Hokage then turned to the blond man. "And you, Raikage-dono?"

"I swear, Lady Hokage."

She nodded, and before Hanabi could stop her, she rose from her wheelchair and gently slid the door open sideways.

The room was dark at first when they all stepped inside. But as Sakura shut the door behind her and allowed their eyes to adjust to the dark, the previously invisible objects slowly made themselves visible. A small green glow at first, it slowly amplified, until the luminous sea green light filled the entire room.

The room, it was a garden.

Astonished by the extravagant beauty of the flowers and their light, everyone was left breathless for a several long moments. Temari eventually decided to close her gaping mouth and mouth her words. "This is…"

"I call this place the 'Garden of Sanctuary'. A replica, through."

"A replica?" The Raikage asked.

Sakura stopped her walking and crouched down in the middle of the room. Adjusting the drape of her flowing Hokage robes, she spoke. "Long ago…I was in love with someone. But when he left the village in order to seek revenge, my friend and I sought to save him from his cursed fate. He failed… and so did I. Eventually, I lost them both, my first love, and my dearest friend."

She paused for a brief moment before she continued. "My friend, he liked flowers. He said that the flowers reminded him of me, and so he grew himself a garden, a Sanctuary like this one so he could preserve his memory of me. It was my favorite place to be in the entire world."

Temari knew of whom she was talking about. "Sakura…"

"I cannot go to his Garden of Sanctuary anymore, my duties as Hokage bind me here, to this village. But I wanted to go back to his Garden of Sanctuary, so I created these, a mock replica of the shadowmoon flowers he grew in his garden. They are nowhere near as beautiful as the ones he grew, but coming here, it calms me. It is better than nothing."

"I think I understand." The Raikage suddenly spoke up from behind. "Those full-bloomed flowers that grow in your private garden you had me tour through earlier today, the reason why they defy the very nature of their glory periods – you had modified them, didn't you? By using the fruits of your research in creating these… shadowmoon flowers."

Sakura smiled faintly. "You're very perceptive. That's correct."

"But why have you brought us here Lady Hokage?" The Raikage asked, advancing a few steps forward. "I admit this is a beautiful place, and although I am honored that you have shared something so private with us, I cannot see the reason why we should be here. Have you not brought us to your house so I could prove that I am trustworthy for the sake of the Lady Kazekage?"

Sakura gazed at him for a moment, her eyes narrow, and then nodded. "You are right. I have brought you here for a reason, for I must fulfill a responsibility that I've been running away from for a long, long time. This place… it's not just a garden. It is also a grave."

Before the Raikage could ask her what she meant by that, Sakura crouched down on top of the garden floor and calmly proceeded to weave through several complicated hand seals in a pattern Temari didn't recognize. When she ended her sequence with a X-shaped seal, she slammed her hands down on the ground and shouted with such ferocity it was hard to believe that she was the same person that had been bedridden just thirty minutes ago.

"_Hakoniwa no Genei, Rokushiki Fuuin, Kai!_"

A brilliant flash of green light echoed through the entire room, blinding every occupant temporarily. When the blinding light finally faded away and Temari finally readjusted her eyes, a curious sight greeted her. "That's…!"

"That is… no, impossible!" The Raikage shouted, the most shocked of them all. "How could you have it in your possession…!"

Sakura only nodded as she stood next to the cylindrical container hovering in the middle of the room. "The Twin Emeralds, the sacred artifacts of Thunder Country, last seen twenty years ago when they were stolen from the Courthouse Vaults."

The Raikage was at first dumbfounded at the sight, but slowly his cheeks turned red from anger. "You… how dare you deceive us!" He shouted. "So you were the true culprits behind the theft all along!"

"I am not!" Sakura shouted back with almost equal vigor. "While I admit it's true that I had it in my possession for all these years, I did not come into possession of this thing willingly! When the true thieves stole them from the vaults, they captured Kakashi-sensei and I and forced the item upon us! I do not know the reason why they had done such a thing, but if you doubt me, feel free to ask the former Sixth Hokage. I can tell you that he can confirm my story."

"But you have sealed away our sacred artifacts and hid them from us for twenty years!" He retorted, not the one to back down so easily. "What you have done can't be forgiven! I for one will not, no, absolutely will not forgive-"

"Do you not know what these are, Raikage?" She asked, interrupting him. "These Emeralds, they are not jewels, but they are eyes! They are the remains of a man once known as Hyuuga Hizashi!"

A collective gasp echoed through the entire room.

Caught surprised by her latest outburst, the Tenth Raikage Teradaya Shougo stood silent for long moments, only the blankness of his expression indicating his inability to react immediately to this astonishing revelation. Eventually though, he pulled himself together. "Then… I… I…"

Sakura shook her head, the deep crease between her brows showing how she understood his confusion, and how hard this was for her, too. "Here's the deal, Raikage-dono. You will have to accept and forgive the fact that I had hidden your sacred artifact away from your village for so long, but at the same time you must also realize that these artifacts, no, these _relics_ should belong here, in Konoha. They deserve to be returned to their families, the Hyuuga clan. Conveniently," She turned to her students standing dumbfounded behind her. "There are two of them here, right now, the current clan head and her husband. If you can find the courage to issue an official apology to their clan and return them the remains of their long lost kin, then perhaps, Temari-san here could start believing that you are trustworthy for the treaty."

There was a long pause.

"I…" The Raikage finally said. "I will… do it."

Smiling, Sakura then turned to Temari. "Well, Temari-san? Is this satisfactory?"

Temari was smiling broadly by then. "Fine with me. But you sure pull off a hellva stunt, don't you?"

"I learned from the best."

The two women laughed.

_Tweeeeet! _

The eyebrows of everyone in the room rose at the sudden piercing noise.

"What the-"

_Tweeeeet!_

"That's the sound of the Hyuuga clan's emergency whistle!" Konohamaru exclaimed.

Udon narrowed his eyes as he cupped his hand on his ear and concentrated on the sound. "It's coming from outside the house…?"

Hanabi was the first to act by throwing open the door to exit, but Sakura stopped her by catching her by the shoulder. She tried to protest. "Sakura-sensei, I have to-!"

"I'm not stopping you Hanabi, I want you to carry me outside. I have to see what's wrong."

"But…!"

Sakura gave her the 'look'. It was all she needed as Hanabi nodded her defeat and carried her by supporting her up by the shoulder. Everyone nodded at each other, and a few body flickers later they arrived safely in front of her house.

A Hyuuga messenger was waiting there for them.

"Hanabi-sama, Konohamaru-sama, Hokage-sama! I'm sorry, I knew you were in there, but I had to resort to using the whistle since I… um, well, didn't really want to step foot into the house."

"Cut to the chase, Hotaru. What have you called us for?" Hananbi demanded.

"Your father, Hanabi-sama! He's condition has worsened! I have been ordered to recall every available Hyuuga clansmen back to the Main House should the worst happen!"

"No! Father!"

The messenger then turned to the Hokage and clutched her hand with a pleading look in his eyes. "Hokage-sama, please, you must help Hiashi-sama!"

"…Hotaru-kun, was it?"

"Ah… yes. Junior member of the messenger ANBU squad _riteitai, _Hyuuga Hotaru at your service ma'am!"

Sakura then turned to face the Raikage. "It seems that now is the perfect opportunity. I will ask you again, Raikage-dono. Are you willing?"

Clutching the said artifact in his hands, the Tenth Raikage nodded. "You do not have to ask me twice, Lady Hokage."

"It's settled then." She turned her attention back to the young man that was still clutching onto her hand. "Lead the way, Hotaru-kun."

* * *

Hyuuga Hiashi lay silently on the _futon_ mattress, staring at the tall ceiling above him. After being administered careful treatment by his younger daughter and the Seventh Hokage herself, he was now steadily recovering from the sudden heart attack from four hours ago. Unable to sleep, he lay there, breathing calmly, collecting his thoughts.

"Still alive, huh…" He muttered quietly to himself. Of all the people he grew up with, he was now the only one left. He felt so alone.

"Would you have preferred if you died?"

He crooked his head to the side to greet in the face of the woman that came into his room. "Hokage-sama. No, of course not."

"You're a stubborn old goat." She said as she sat down beside him. "You're not going to croak anytime soon."

Hiashi prided himself in being a serious man, so he didn't even try to laugh at the sly joke. "Speak for yourself, Hokage-sama. I heard that you too had collapsed just this afternoon. Are you sure you should be up and about now?"

He saw her roll her eyes. "None of your business. Just be worried for yourself."

Seeing that this was going nowhere fast, Hiashi decided to change the subject. "I must thank you for convincing the Raikage to bring back the remains of my brother."

The ceremony for the transfer had taken place soon just after Hiashi had recovered from his initial shock after the attack. But in response to Hiashi's thanks, the Hokage kept herself silent. Only after a while did the Hokage resume speaking. "…You very well know that that's not the case."

"Pardon?"

"Please don't try to play dumb in front of me, Hiashi-san. I know you better than you think you do."

Hiashi was unsure if he should look surprised or impressed. He settled with wearing an expression that was somewhere in the between. "…Since when did you know?"

"It was kind of obvious when the _riteitai _ranks started to fill up with former Branch House members of the Hyuuga clan. The messenger squads are the people who deal with confidential information the most, after all."

"I see… I suppose I should have been more subtle."

She shrugged. "Can't say I blame you. Not after you lost Hanabi as your main spy, anyway. You didn't want to be left in the dark for too long, right?"

"…So you knew from the beginning."

"Of course I did."

"What do you want, Hokage-sama?"

She answered his question with another question of her own. "Do you know why I came here, Hiashi-san?"

"…I have a good idea."

"Let me spell it out for you then. I returned Hizashi-san's eyes back to the Raikage, and consequently the Hyuuga clan because it was the perfect pretext for me to get an audience with you one on one. Although, I guess that whole thing turned out to be useless since you collapsed and I was called in here to treat you."

"………"

"You were avoiding me for the longest time. No matter how many times I try to request a direct audience with you, you refused or came up with some elaborate excuse saying you couldn't attend. You must've expected me to take drastic measures sooner or later."

"…I actually expected you would take such measures much sooner."

She sighed in excruciation. "…I was afraid. Of the truth. To be honest, I didn't even want to know what the whole business was about, and even now I think I probably would've been better off left ignorant. But when it's staring you right in the face, when it keeps nagging at you in the deepest corners of your subconscious mind, when it haunts your dreams… what can I do? I had to find out. I only needed an excuse for that tiny little spark of courage, and Temari-san and the Raikage gave it to me today."

Hiashi was silent. He couldn't answer.

"Will you tell me everything, then?"

He tried to avoid her piercing gaze. But when she uttered the next two words, he couldn't avoid staring into those sea-green eyes and her luminous pink hair he hadn't seen for so long.

"Hiashi-niisama?"

Getting past the initial shock of the Hokage calling her 'older brother', it took Hiashi a few good seconds to come up with an answer.

"…It's been sixty years since you've called me that."

Although at first Sakura looked surprised at his responsiveness and seemed unprepared for what he was about to tell her, when she bit her lip and sat up straight in front of him he knew she was ready.

When was the last time he had smiled? He was almost certain that he had forgotten how, but when he tightened the muscles around his lips and when they curved upwards and formed that tiny expression of happiness, emotions washed over him. He was smiling. The one expression she had always loved to see him wear.

"Welcome home, Setsuka. "

* * *

Sakura emerged out of Hiashi's room three hours later.

Hanabi was waiting for her outside the door.

"Sakura-sensei… is Father…?"

"He'll be fine. He's sleeping now."

Hanabi breathed out a sigh of relief, but she crossed her hands in front of her, fidgeting. She was looking very uneasy.

Sakura rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hanabi. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but…"

Her prized apprentice shook her head sideways almost vigorously. "No, I won't ask anything. I'm sure you had a reason for keeping Uncle Hizashi's eyes with you."

She smiled back. "Thanks."

"…Sakura-sensei, you should rest. It's late, Kono and Udon are already resting. I have prepared a separate room for you, so please, why won't you stay over for the night?"

"…Thanks, but no thanks, Hanabi. I have to return to the Hospital."

"The Hos…! But, Sakura-sensei! In your condition…!"

"What if I told you, Hanabi, that I've finally thought of a cure for my condition?"

Hanabi seemed to lose all of her words with that statement. "Buh… wha…?"

"It's not perfect, but it'll work. I have to develop a drug that will fool my body that I have been cured. In essence, it's the 'joker's drug'. By distracting the reoccurring program in my body it will buy me enough time to come up with the actual cure itself. And the sooner I start working on it, the better."

Hanabi was not Sakura's prized student for nothing. "But Sakura-sensei, coming up with such a drug can be dangerous! Not only will it weaken you severely, but the jutsu that keeps your youthful form will…!"

"Crumble. Yes, I'm perfectly aware of the risks. But it's the only choice I have. Besides, I told you this before. My strength does not matter. Only the village."

"…It's true, but… why have you come to this decision so suddenly? If you've been considering it for a while now, what made you change your mind?"

"…Let's just say, I had a good long talk with your father."

What she had told Hanabi was partially true. But that was not all.

She had to live. She just _had _to.

Now that she knew the truth, she just had to see Naruto one last time. But with the way she was now, with her jutsu that kept her youthful form crumbling, she now had to come up with something else, something different that retained her youthful form. And for that, she needed time.

She would never dare taint the image Naruto had for her.

Even if it meant it was going to cost her very own life.

* * *

_**- Eighth Entry - **_

"_**Hope" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Seventh Hokage, Tenth year. November 21st. _

_60 years old. Year 45 of Imprisonment. Tenth year of Hokage. _

_Despite my best of efforts I still haven't managed to usurp the stranglehold of power the Village Council held, although their hold was starting to weaken. However, I predict it would take several more decades before some future Hokage can veto the Council decisions and ultimately free Naruto, but definitely not during my lifetime. Perhaps my successor can. _

_On a related note, I'm starting to feel the full blunt of the effects from the double Souzou Saisei I preformed 30 years ago, and have already been hospitalized a few times by collapsing. Combined with my duties of Hokage and the treatments I've been getting from my apprentices, it has been years since I've gone to Naruto's. I can now barely maintain my youthful form and I predict I can withhold this state for only a year more. _

_Still, in Naruto's Sanctuary, he was still probably the same age. _

_I wanted to go to his garden. _

_I started developing the drug I have been planning on making. _

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

Yes, I know it's been almost three months and it's utterly and terribly late. Heck, even as I'm typing this author's note I know for a fact that I'm not really finished since I haven't really gone over this chapter so I could fine tooth comb the errors out. At the very least, I'm certain there aren't any major ones… or at least, I think so… bah humbug.

Also, due to the latest developments in the canon Naruto manga storyline, I'm going to have to make slight revisions to Chapter Seven since the Akatsuki member wearing the ring of "Hoku" has been revealed. I find it quite funny that the partner of "Hoku" is actually a religious fanatic, thereby actually introducing a religion aspect into the canon storyline, which actually works to my advantage. Therefore, that same religious fanatic introduced in the latest Naruto manga chapters will replace the Shinto Akatsuki member introduced in Chapter Seven. Expect a revision within the next couple of days to Chapter Seven, as well as Eight.

The reason why I'm uploading Chapter Eight without going it over that serious is because… well, dammit, I just wanted this chapter to see the light of day. It HAS been three months, and I have been getting several e-mails pestering me to just finish Medusa Javelin and start on Empyreal Paradox. Trust me, I really DO want to finish this and start working on the other, but dammit, I'll be damned if I release something that isn't thoroughly planned and something of poor quality.

Anyway, now that I have my motivation back somewhat now that my new job is going quite well and is looking to be something I can make a career out of, my hectic studying days are over and I can concentrate my spare time on writing fiction and the like. So Chapter Nine will probably come out quite soon, but do note that there may be… some… distractions. So yeah, just don't expect anything. Right.

Long rant. I'll stop now.

As usual, thanks for reading!

- Nes Mikel


	9. Prudence

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_Show me…" _

* * *

_**- Ninth Entry - **_

"_**Prudence"**_

_Reign of the Eighth Hokage, Second year. July 7th. _

_73 years old. _

* * *

"Ah… you, you are…!"

Even as the guards posted outside the massive village doors ahead came to attention and saluted her, not even the mixture of startled and surprised expressions penetrated the awareness of the frowning, white-haired woman who walked towards them. She was deep in thought, her head down and moving slowly. She carried a small, sheathed katana blade almost horizontally across her back, the two elbows hanging by her side almost touching the hilt and point of the sword. But what caught the guard's attention was not what she wore on her back, but what she wore on her face; all but her eyes were covered by what appeared to be some sort of veil. But even with the veil, the guards all knew who she was. The streaks of faded pink in her mostly-white hair told them all they needed to know.

She finally caught attention of them as they stepped quickly forward from either side and swung the wide, heavy doors open to admit her inside. She looked up at the massive doors, blinked, and when she finally realized that they were letting her through without bothering to confirm her identity, she quietly thanked them by giving them a small nod. They nodded vigorously back with idiotic smiles on their faces, as if they were proud of fact that they had just now breached the most standard protocols of all.

She walked through the two open doors, out of the cool darkness of the forest shadows and into the bright afternoon light of the open village in front of her. She paused for several moments, momentarily blinded by the change from darkness to sunlight. Her face grew solemn again, and she moved into the wide road ahead of her and took her first steps inside the village she hadn't been in for almost two years. She was so far removed from awareness of anything else that she walked past a group of brightly dressed, cheerful young girls huddled in one corner of the street without even noticing them, despite their admiring glances and the greetings some of them called out to her.

She had other, heavier things on her mind.

As irony would have it, she also failed to notice the other, heavier man who came straddling towards her as soon as he saw who she was. As their paths converged almost in the exact center of the village square, it was left to the man to notice that she was making no attempt to slow down or yield as they were about to cross paths. Realizing this, the man stopped walking, eyebrows rising in astonishment, and stepped out of her way. Only as she drew past the larger man, who now reached out to grasp her shoulder, did she become aware of him. She reached back as through she were under attack, her palm reaching for the handle of the sword and was about to draw the blade before she really looked at the man who gripped her shoulder. She stopped herself and slid the already half-drawn katana back into her sheath, and whatever visible parts of her veiled face flushed with appalled embarrassment.

"Chouji-san…! I'm sorry, my mind was… elsewhere."

A hint of something that looked like a smile tugged at one corner of the elderly man's mouth. "I could see that," He replied as he released her shoulder, in a rather deep, but friendly voice. "But even in the midst of such self reflection, Sakura, you should always try to keep one eye open, at least in your present surroundings. Not that I needed to tell you that, of course. But to see you like that, what were you thinking about?"

Sakura's embarrassment deepened. "Ah… it's nothing… I was just contemplating over the ratios of chemical distribution for-" She hesitated briefly, then added. "-my next project. I still needed to go over a few things."

"That's so like you." That hint of a smile soon grew into a wider grin. "So I take it you're back here in the village for some clinical lab-testing?"

"That's half of it. There were some other ingredients I-" She paused, then looked at the Akimichi clan elder in front of her carefully. Her eyes narrowed as she debated to herself if it were such a wise idea to discuss such matters out here, in the open.

"Sensitive matters?"

Chouji was always good at reading people's emotions, and she supposed it helped that his wife was a master of psychology. Sakura closed her eyes and nodded curtly, relieved, thankful.

She was further relieved when he didn't press the subject. "Where were you headed?" He asked, changing the topic of conversation.

"I was thinking of going to the Hospital-"

"Nonsense. You just come back from your two year trip and you want to dive back immediately into work? You need rest, Sakura. And a much deserved one at that."

Although the white cloths of her veil helped her to conceal most of her emotions, she still tried to restrain her frown. "Chouji-san, I…" She started her retort, but was interrupted again when Chouji moved in besides her and patted her back.

"At the very least, come to our house. Ino will be thrilled to see you again, and besides," His line of sight shifted from her to the people behind her. "We're starting to attract attention. Which you don't want, if I remember correctly."

She followed his line of sight and looked behind, finally noticing the crowd of people gathered around her, pointing and gossiping, some of them even cheering. She sighed. Couldn't be helped. She was the former Seventh Hokage of this village, after all.

But attention was something she definitely didn't want.

However, there was one part in her mind that told her that she could, perhaps, use this invitation to her advantage…

"One night, then."

His caring smile soon returned. "That's more like it. Come on then, tonight will be a feast!"

* * *

"_At the end of our seventeenth year of our war one thing has become more and more clear. It is that the Hidden Sound seeks to establish domination over the world completely different from any known in history. _

"_The domination at which the Sound aim is not limited to the displacement of the balance of power and the imposition of supremacy of one nation. It seeks the systematic and total destruction of those conquered by Orochimaru, and it does not treaty with the nations that he has subdued. He destroys them. He takes from them their whole political and economic existence and seeks even to deprive them of their history and their culture. He wishes to consider them only as vital space and a vacant territory over which he has every right. The human beings who constitute these nations are for him only cattle. He orders their massacre to make room for their conquerors. He does not even take the trouble to impose an iron rule upon them; he just takes all their wealth, and, to prevent any revolt, he wipes out their leaders just so he can immerse himself in the physical and moral degradation of those whose independence he has taken away. _

"_Under this domination, in hundreds of towns and villages in Sound Country, there are thousands of human beings now living in such misery which, some months ago, they would've never imagined. The former nation known as the Country of Rice Fields can now only be called the lands of despair. Their whole peoples have been deprived of the means of moral and material happiness. Subdued by treachery or brutal violence, they have no other recourse than to work for their executioners who grant them scarcely enough to assure the most miserable existence. _

"_There is being created a world of masters and slaves in the image of Sound itself. For, while the Sound is crushing beneath its tyranny the men and women of essentially every country, Sound itself is being cursed beneath its own servitude and its domination mania. The Sound's average workers and peasant are the slaves of their Sound masters while the workers of the surrounding towns and villages have become in turn slaves of these slaves. _

"_Their propaganda is entirely founded on the exploitation of the weakness of the human heart. It does not address itself to the strong or the heroic. It tells the greedy man they are going to lose their money. It tells the strong they will lose their power. It tells the intellectual and the artist that all he cherishes is being destroyed by war. It tells the lover of good things that soon he would have none of them. _

"_It is those who speak this way who have destroyed or confiscated all wealth they could lay their hands on, who have reduced their workers to slavery, who have ruined all intellectual liberty, who have imposed terrible privations on thousands of men and women and who have made murder their law. What do contradictions matter to them if they can lower the resistance of those who wish to bar the path of their ambitions to be masters of the world? _

"_For us, there is more to do than merely win the war. We shall win it, but we must also win a victory far greater than that. In this world of masters and slaves, which those madmen who rule at the heart of Sound Country are seeking to forge, we must also save liberty and human dignity-" _

"Sorry to interrupt your lecture Hokage-sama…"

Konohamaru looked up from his book and towards the now open door of the classroom to see one of his aides standing apologetically outside the room. Sighing, he closed shut the book with both of his hands and turned his attention back to both the eager and not-so eager Academy students in front of him. "Sorry kids, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut class short. I'm going to dismiss you all-"

An enthusiastic cheer erupted among them.

"-but Tobiume-sensei has asked me to remind you that today's History lecture will be covered in tomorrow's test." He finished.

This groaning response this time told Konohamaru that they were all quite less than enthusiastic over the announcement. He tried his best to resist the urge to chuckle. "Class dismissed! And don't forget to read through page 144 for the remainder of Tsunade-sama's speech!" He reminded them.

As the students stood from their desks and started filing out of the classroom, the Eighth Hokage turned to his ANBU subordinate now standing besides him and glared at him with unforgiving eyes. "You know, it was you who suggested I started filling in for a few teachers to teach History to Academy students." He said. "I can't have you interrupting me every time."

"Well… on the bright side, you've become quite popular with the students now, right?" His aide offered.

"They only like me because I have to cut classes short every single time, Hotaru. _Every. Single. Time._" He carefully repeated the three words, stressing them to make sure he got his point across. "You're forcing me to set a bad example in front of these children."

"But those Icha Icha Paradise novels you write-"

"Don't try to change the goddamn subject." He snapped. "That's a different story altogether. And remember, if you tell Hanabi…"

Regretting that he even dared to have opened his stupid mouth, the _riteitai _squad captain placed a gloved hand over his face in a rather futile attempt to hide himself away from his now-quite angry leader. "If I tell Hanabi-sama, I'm a dead man. Yes, I know, Hokage-sama."

Frustrated, Konohamaru sighed as he looked at the few remaining students chatting away happily to each other as they walked out of the classroom. "I really was enjoying the lecture, too, you know." He said. "Especially that speech. It won us the war." His eyes turned momentarily soft. "Something those kids will hopefully never have to go through."

Hotaru tried to look as compassionate as he could. "…I'm sorry. If it helps, I'll only try to interrupt your class if the matter needs urgent attention."

"And all the matters before were not?" Konohamaru sighed. "Two days ago you tell me that the Feudal Lords of Fire Country were filing in an urgent request for increased security for their annual conference, yesterday you tell me that the Mizukage's second-in-command was assassinated by a group of rouge ninjas presumably consisting of Konoha missing-nins… so what is it today? The asses from the Village Council demanding I rid the laws that limit their power?"

Hotaru gulped. "Well actually-"

"Exactly as you said, Konohamaru. Exactly as you said."

Konohamaru cursed, but he wasn't overtly surprised. He actually expected that. He turned around to face the new speaker now sitting just outside the classroom.

"Moegi."

The wheelchair-bound councilwoman gave him the scrawniest of smiles. "You don't seem too happy to see me, hmm?" She said as she rolled herself inside.

"Oh no, I'm just crackling with joy inside."

Positioning herself next to him, she rolled her eyes. "So sarcastic. Looks like the vixen taught your language well."

That damnable nickname again. It took almost all of Konohamaru's self-control to restrain him from lashing out at his former teammate from so long ago.

It was likely she noticed his growing anger, but she ignored it. "Speaking of the vixen, it seems she had returned to the village just a few minutes ago."

The information took Konohamaru by surprise. He wasn't aware his predecessor had come back. He turned to Hotaru who stood behind him. "Is this true? Why wasn't I told of this?"

"Er… sorry?"

Konohamaru was sure he would've strangled his subordinate for being so incompetent if it weren't for the councilwoman present inside the room. Clearly, Hotaru had been unaware of the information.

Moegi chuckled. "I see you chose your aides well."

"I'm quite tempted to fire him right now, actually." Konohamaru bitterly admitted.

Hotaru's face fell. "Noooooo! Please, Hokage-sama, give me another chance! I promise I won't fail you this time! I swear!"

"Then make yourself useful and welcome back Sakura-sensei. Properly. And make sure to send her my best of regards."

"Oh! Um, eheheh… of course! Sir, yes sir! On my way!" Hotaru awkwardly saluted him before he vanished from the classroom in a large puff of smoke.

Well, too large of a smoke in fact – Konohamaru was caught inside the large plume and even had to cough some of it out of his lungs. "…I swear…" He spoke once he came out of his fits of coughs. "If he weren't from the clan, I would've killed him a long time ago."

"You could easily have him transferred to some other division."

"Hotaru has his uses." He said, brushing off the last wisps of smoke away from his body.

"Like how he reminds you of the fox-demon?"

He was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his anger in check. "Moegi…"

Again, she ignored him. She changed the subject instead. "You know why I'm here."

At least Hotaru wasn't wrong about that part. "If that's the case, then you know what my answer is going to be."

"Not going to yield, are we?"

"Yield? Moegi, Sakura-sensei may have went easy on you and your oh-so precious Village Council during her reign, but me, you know I'm different. Hell, you should consider me _generous_ that I didn't outright disband that entire fucking concubine of yours."

"You consider yourself generous? How laughable!" The woman cackled. "You didn't disband the council because you _couldn't,_ Konohamaru." She pointed a finger at him. "_That_'s the truth."

Konohamaru snorted. "Only because there was no telling what you and your cronies would do if I ever disbanded the council so suddenly."

"Excuses, excuses. You're afraid of a little civil war? Pity that it didn't happen, though."

"Are you threatening me, Moegi?"

"Why, Hokage-sama, I'm shocked to be accused of such a thing." She snickered. "_Of course_ I'm threatening you, Konohamaru. Why, you honestly didn't think that idiot law restricting our power and influence is going to keep us down for long, did you? We'll find a way around it to keep ourselves strong. Just you wait."

"We'll see."

The female leader of the Village Council laughed. "Hah! Don't be so cocky. You may have won the first round in our battle inside the political arena, but I won't be pulling my punches next time around. I shall be sincerely be looking forward to our next match, _Lord Hokage_."

"Hmph, and you accuse me of being the sarcastic one."

"Oh please, you flatter me."

"Fine, if that's how you want to play, then so be it _Madame Chairman._"

She snickered at his undertone threat but said nothing more. Moegi was about to turn her wheelchair around to leave when Konohamaru called after her.

"Moegi, if you're so firmly opposed to me and my policies, then why won't we just outright declare open war? We both know we want to kill each other. Why won't we just get it over and done with?"

She stopped turning her wheelchair forward and turned to face him again. "Funny you should ask that question."

"And why is that?"

"It's because the reason is obvious. We both don't want a real war." It was her eyes that turned soft this time. "I've already seen enough bloodshed as is. We both have."

"…Moegi."

"Don't give me that tone of voice, Konohamaru." She sighed. "We both know we've traveled down paths we can never turn back from. It's already too late."

"It's never too late, Moegi."

"This is the real world, Konohamaru-kun." She said, calling him by that oh-so familiar name when they were still together as a team almost seventy years ago. "And in the real world, idle fantasies like that don't come true."

"…………"

She half-turned her wheelchair around to stare at the setting sun burning outside the classroom window. "Face it, Konohamaru. We both have different ideas on how we want to protect the village. We're like parallel lines. Both running towards the same goal, but fated never to intersect."

"Why though, Moegi… why? Why do you hate Sakura-sensei so much? Why do you hate Leader… no, _Naruto-bro_ so much? I just… don't understand…"

She sighed. "It's because _Leader_-" She paused for emphasis. "Is not the idol I thought he was. He was the nine-tailed demon fox _Kyuubi no Youko!" _

"He's not-"

"He was the one who led the betrayer Uchiha Sasuke into defecting this village, even failing in his mission to bring the traitor back. If he hadn't screwed up his stupid goddamn mission, we never would've been ambushed by Orochimaru, Ebisu-sensei would've never died, Udon would've never lost his arm, and I wouldn't be stuck in this stupid fucking wheelchair for life!"

"But that's-"

"And that vixen you call Sakura," She interrupted him yet again. "She's so smitten by the fox she wants him released from his imprisonment. Hell, that's practically the _only_ reason why she accepted the position of Hokage in the first place!"

"Take that back, Moegi!"

"I'm not taking back my words because it's the truth!"

He was about to throw in another retort but Konohamaru clamped his mouth shut at the last second. Deep down, he knew that she was right.

Predictably, she snorted at his silence. "But she, she was weak. She felt guilty for replacing herself with Ebisu-sensei and replacing me with Hanabi. So when I recovered and eventually took over grandmother's position as the leader of the Village Council, she became reluctant, torn inside, debating if releasing her love was more important than letting go of that feeling of guilt she had of me." She snarled. "I hated that, that… that feeling of pity. Treated like a _thing_, like a cripple that could do nothing. For that, I will never forgive. "

"She was only looking out for you, Moegi."

"Hmph. Well, at least it worked to my advantage; ultimately, I prevented her from releasing the fox from his confinement during her reign. But I'll admit, when you first took over her position as Hokage, I was afraid you were going to take direct action against us because you didn't seem to have qualms about disbanding the council even if it meant splitting the village into two. But what do you know? You were no different. You too, feel guilty over me. Don't you?"

"…………"

She turned her wheelchair back and around again, shaking her head as she turned. "Just as I thought. Pathetic."

Konohamaru remained silent, but as he was maintaining his silence a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"You're no different too, Moegi."

Moegi narrowed her eyes as she glared sharply at him. "What did you say?"

"This isn't about you hating Naruto-bro or Sakura-sensei, or you trying to maintain your Village Council's position of power. You're only doing this because of me, aren't you Moegi? Because instead of you, Hanabi was the one that replaced you in the team, Hanabi was the one I fell in love with, Hanabi was the one I ultimately married. You're only standing in my way because you feel _jealous_-"

"_Shut up!" _

Konohamaru didn't miss how Moegi's knuckles turned white from clenching the handles of her wheelchair so tight.

It didn't take a genius to know that he had hit his mark.

"I don't need sympathies from you! Not from _you_!"

"Moegi-"

"_Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" _She grabbled the wheels of her wheelchair and would've stormed out of the classroom if weren't for Konohamaru standing in her way.

"_Move. Aside." _She demanded.

Eyes sympathetic, Konohamaru could only sigh as he reluctantly stepped aside. Moegi glared at him one last time before she sharply turned away from her childhood friend and tried to roll herself out of the classroom.

"You were my first crush, you know." Konohamaru said the moment she reached the door.

Her back still turned, she spoke in tatters. "…I know. You were mine too. You still are."

He didn't have to look at her face to know she was crying.

"Moegi, I…"

Moegi cut him off. "As long as I live, Konohamaru." She said. "As long as I live, I will be your enemy. Never forget that. Ever."

Her words were followed by painful silence.

And soon, she was gone.

* * *

"…and that's the gist of it, Nanadaime-sama!"

Sakura nodded. "I see. Thank you for the report, Hotaru-kun. I appreciate it."

"Not a problem Nanadaime-sama! It's good to see you back in the village again! I shall take my leave now! Adieu!"

"Quite the energetic fellow, isn't he?" Sakura asked the elderly Akimichi man once the Hyuuga _riteitai_ captain left the scene. "I see some things never change."

"Too energetic if you ask me." Chouji answered. "I still don't understand why Konohamaru chose him as his aide when he became Hokage. That fellow has a few screws loose too."

She shrugged. "He always had a soft spot for people like that. Well, at least it was nice to know that he's doing a good job as Hokage."

Chouji raised an eyebrow. "The news never reached you while you were traveling?"

"Some of it. Mostly rumours, while I traveled around the continent."

"Speaking of your journey, Sakura, where exactly did you travel to? You kept quite a low profile after you resigned from office."

"Let's see…" She created a quick list in her mind before she answered his question. "I've traveled around almost all of the countries… but I spent most of my time in the Capital. A beautiful place, that city; there's so much history."

"Ah, I see. Beautiful, I agree, but quite isolated. I see now why you weren't aware of Konohamaru's accomplishments. News of the continent scarcely reaches there. What made you want to go there, through? You've made plenty of official visits while you were Hokage."

"There were a few materials I wanted to collect. The other countries had most of the things I wanted, but there were a few specific ones I wanted to-"

The two of them were walking under the large front gate of the Akimichi clan complex when a large voice greeted them from the inside. "Heeeeeeeeeey, long time no see forehead girl!"

A scornful smile appeared under the mask of Sakura's veil. "Hello Ino-pig."

The aged woman, her blond hair now totally white, huffed at the familiar greeting. "You need to write more often."

"Sorry." Sakura answered with lacklustre.

"Suuuure you are." She grinned. "Well, don't just stand there; come on in come on in! Chouji sent for a messenger ahead of time so I'd know you were arriving. I have the cooks preparing the feast as we speak – peacock was fine, right?"

Chouji patted his large belly and soundly smacked his lips. "Most excellent! A great choice!"

"Yeah, it's fine. Thanks, Ino." Sakura nodded.

"Not a problem. Things were getting _soooo _dull around here without you around, you know? I still haven't quite forgiven you for quitting the Hokage job so suddenly; you left me without saying a word of goodbye!"

Sakura lightly bit her lip. "Sorry." Her apology was laced with genuine emotions this time around.

Ino sighed. "I mean, I heard the story from Hanabi-chan, about how you were desperate to find a cure for your condition since the effects of your 'joker's drug' were starting to wear off, but you could've at least told me. We're best friends, right? I wouldn't have hesitated one bit to help you."

"…That wasn't the only reason I left, through." Sakura said, almost a whisper.

Ino stared at Sakura with a questioning look, but she eventually shrugged, as if to ask if it made any difference. "Do you hate looking old that much, Sakura?"

Sakura was silent even as the trio reached the front doors of the large Akimichi house. The three of them entered through the doorway and were promptly greeted by the Akimichi clan servants. "Welcome back Chouji-sama, Nanadaime-sama." They bowed down deeply.

"How much longer?" Chouji asked.

"The feast will be ready in about twenty minutes, Chouji-sama." One of the male servants replied. "If you wish, we do have several appetizers prepared…"

Chouji nodded back curtly. "That'll do."

"Very well. If you would follow me, please."

Taking their shoes off, the three of them were about to step into the long hallways of the Akimichi house before Ino stopped them. "Sakura, you're going to carry that all the way to the dining room?" Ino pointed, referring to the katana blade she had strapped on her back. "I didn't even know you _wielded_ a sword like that."

"I rather not take it off…"

"Don't be silly. No one's going to attack you here. Or steal it, for that matter. Hand it over, I'll have one of the servants clean it if you want."

Sakura seemed to consider the offer for a moment before her hands reluctantly reached backwards to unstrap the katana blade from her back. Once that was over, she was about to place the sheathed blade over on Ino's outstretched hand when suddenly-

_CLANG! _

Sakura dropped the sheathed sword. It clattered loudly on the polished wooden floors.

"…Sakura?"

Sakura reacted quickly. She had already retreated her hand into the long sleeves of her robe. She was desperately trying not to look into Ino's piercing gaze.

But it was too late. Ino had already seen what was wrong. "Let me see your hands Sakura."

"No, Ino."

"Sakura…"

"I said _no,_ Ino."

Ino merely shrugged. "Fine. Chouji?"

Sakura never stood a chance. Even before she could react the elderly Akimichi man had her in a tight bear hug from behind. Gritting her teeth, she tried to squirm out of his embrace but the man's arms didn't budge.

"What's the matter, Sakura? With your superhuman strength, it wouldn't a problem for someone like you to escape from Chouji's grip."

"Ino! Dammit, tell Chouji to let me go!"

"Let me see your hands then!"

"Dammit _Ino-"_

Ignoring her protests, Ino reached out and grabbed both of Sakura arms and pulled back the sleeves of her robes. It only took a glance to confirm what she had just seen.

"Shit. Sakura… how long?"

Sakura only turned her head away.

"Look at me, forehead girl. _Look at me_, and answer my question. How long?"

She still had her head turned away when she answered with a distasteful tone in her voice. "…Two years."

"So in other words, since the day you left."

"…………"

Ino sighed again. "You can let go of her now, Chouji."

Chouji did as was told and let go of the former Hokage, who promptly crumpled down into the floor. She sat there, unmoving.

Ino turned around a little to face the man standing behind her. "Kojima-kun, fetch us a _hyourougan_ kit, would you? Preferably one with multiple soldier pills."

The servant, who stood silent through the entire ordeal, seemed surprised at the sudden command. Thankfully, he seemed to be quick on catching on what his mistress wanted and thus bowed politely before he went off to carry out his now assigned duty. Ino watched him disappear past the long hallways of the mansion, and once she was sure he was out of earshot she turned her attention back to Sakura who still sat on wooden floors uttering not a single word.

"Sakura…"

"You don't have to sound so sympathetic, Ino-pig." She said, suddenly speaking up. "I know what my body is going through."

"But Sakura, your veins… they're… they're _black_. That colour can't possibly be natural."

"The long-term side-effects of the 'joker's drug' I developed. Now you see why I wanted to cover my face with a veil, Ino? It looks just as bad."

Ino tried her best not to imagine her best friend's face scarred with the black outline of veins. She failed miserably.

With clear bitterness in her voice, Sakura continued. "It's not that I hate looking old, Ino. I do hate it – that's the reason why I tried to maintain my youthful form as long as possible with that cosmetic jutsu – but right now, not only do I look old, I look ugly. Ugly and _weak_."

"…You can't even utilize your strength anymore?"

"Why do you think I'm carrying a katana, Ino? Did you honestly think it's for decoration?" She said, spiteful. "It's so that I could protect myself if I came under attack. Useless now, though, it seems I can't even hold the damn thing properly anymore."

"…………"

Sakura finally stood straight up from the floor and, ignoring Ino, turned to Chouji. "…Chouji-san, I'm sorry but… can you take me home?"

He looked disappointed. "But what about the feast we prepared?"

"Some other time, I promise. Just… just not today. I don't feel so well."

Looking unsure, Chouji slowly turned to his wife for advice. "Ino…?"

"…Fine, let her be."

It was at that precise moment when the servant returned to the scene, carrying a small box full with various forms of Akimichi clan soldier pills. "Here are the pills you requested Ino-sama…" He interrupted himself when he noticed Sakura heading for the door. "Is Nanadaime-sama leaving?"

"She is." Ino nodded as she took the box from him. "Can you prepare a carriage for her, Kojima-kun?"

He looked confused, but he knew better than to question orders from his masters. "At once, Ino-sama." He soon disappeared back from where he came from.

"…Thanks Ino."

"Don't worry about it. Even someone like me can tell that you're in no condition to walk home. And here." She then shoved the box containing the soldier pills into Sakura's hands. "Take it."

Sakura's eyes widened. "But aren't these… the Akimichi clan's secret soldier pills? I can't accept something like this!"

"Don't be such a stubborn ass, this is what you wanted, no?"

"…Eh?"

"Don't underestimate me, Sakura. Old I may be, but I'm still an expert when it comes to reading minds. You accepted Chouji's invitation because you originally wanted to convince us to hand over the Akimichi clan's secret soldier pills for your research in a cure for your condition, right?"

Sakura's stood there speechless, blinking, her face unable to hide her astonishment. "Ino, I… you sure? I mean… this is Chouji-san's… I can't…"

"I don't mind, Sakura." Chouji said, smiling. "You are our friend. We'll do anything to help you."

Ino was grinning. "So there you have it. Understand, Sakura? Never, ever shy away from your friends. We're here to help you. We all are."

Sakura was desperately fighting to keep tears out of her eyes. "Ino… Chouji… thank you… I'll definitely cure myself with this, I'll definitely…!"

The three friends came together in a comforting hug.

* * *

Sitting alone inside the swaying carriage that took her home, Sakura was feeling awful inside.

She had just lied to her two best friends.

Yes, it was true she wanted these pills. But not for the reason the two suspected.

She wasn't making a drug to cure her condition.

What she was creating was the exact opposite.

* * *

"Ah, there you are. Thought you might be here."

Aburame Shino lowered the puppet he had been polishing until it rested on his knee and raised his head slowly to look at Kankurou from beneath the border of the cloth that shielded his head from the blazing sun.

"Thanks for polishing those, by the way. I really appreciate it."

"It isn't a problem. There was little else to do. What is you want, Kankurou?"

"There's some foreigner in the marketplace asking for you. A guy. At least, I think it's a guy."

Shino raised an eyebrow underneath his sunglasses. "Do you know him?"

"No. He's just some foreigner. I told you that."

"Did you tell him where to find me?"

Kankurou laughed dryly. "What am I, your servant? Sheesh, if he wants to find you, he'll do it on his own."

Nodding silently, Shino raised the puppet he was holding in his hand and resumed polishing.

"What, not even a thank you?" Kankurou shook his head, as Shino remained as unresponsive as ever. "Bah, at least I know that's your way of saying thanks… but honestly, it gets annoying when all I ever get is that silence from you. I sometimes wonder to myself why I even bother trying…"

Even as Kankurou was walking away, however, Shino could see the stranger approaching behind him from the village gates that led to the Sand Village's marketplace. He – or possibly a she, rather, as it was very hard to tell the stranger's gender apart from this distance – was quite the peculiar sight.

It took no great amount of brainpower to understand why Kankurou had called him a foreigner, however – the newcomer was tall and pinkly pale as all foreigners typically were. They all were at first – instantly recognizable for their clothing, too new and too unsuitable for the climate here in this village hidden in the sand, their colours all too bright and too vibrant. It normally took months for a man or woman from the surrounding countries to be accustomed in this harsh climate until they became undistinguishable from other ordinary villagers.

This stranger seemed like a perfect example of the case, with that unmistakeable freshness of his red robe, clothing that still bore the brightness of non-desert climes and his bright, eager eyes betrayed that the stranger had yet to see a hostile bandit, let alone fight one. The stranger eventually came right up to where he sat and addressed him directly. "I'm looking for a man that goes by the name of Aburame Shino. Are you he? Yeah."

"I am. Who are you?"

The stranger took three steps forward and dropped to one knee in front of him, reaching for Shino's hand and seizing it before the surprised Bug Sennin could shake it away. "Ah, I can't tell you how happy I am to find you! I have been searching for over a month and I finally caught up to you! You're a hard man to track down – you wander around everywhere yeah!"

Shino was still too astonished to take back his hand even as the man (definitely a man, the bugs were telling him so) continued. "Oh yeah, that reminds me, I never introduced myself. I am a member of the Chrysanthemum Guard, from the sect of 'Dawn'. I go by the alias of _Sei_. Yeah."

"You are from the Chrysanthemum Guard…?" Shino tilted his head to his side, looking at the man through his sunglasses with narrowed eyes. "Why have you been searching for me? Who sent you to find me?"

The man who called himself _Sei_ only smiled. "I'm just a messenger, yeah. To warn you."

"Warn me? Warn me of what?"

"I assume you share a close relationship with a certain Haruno Sakura, yeah?"

Shino was astounded, but he had been schooling himself for years to allow his face to betray nothing of what he was thinking so he continued to sit there, motionless. "We are only friends. I served in the same ANBU squad as her a long time ago, but that's as far as our relationships go."

"Ah, I guess I worded a bit wrong. That's what I meant, yeah. Friends."

Shino couldn't tell if the man was serious or not. He was, however, relieved when the man finally let go of his hand. "What did you want to warn me about?" Shino asked.

"She's back in the Village of the Hidden Leaf right now, yeah. And her 74th birthday is coming up, in about… eight months, I think. Yeah."

"Are you saying that I should attend?"

"That's it exactly! Yeah!"

Shino stared at the man in front of him, serious. "Why are you, a member of the Chrysanthemum Guard, acting as messenger to tell me of such a thing?"

The man didn't seem to be phased. "Something important is going to happen that day, yeah. And you should be in the Hidden Leaf when it happens, yeah."

"And what is going to happen?"

"You have to just wait and see, yeah!"

Shino was about to ask another question, but the man beat him to the punch when the stranger stood up straight and was brushing the strands of sand off his robe. "Well, my job here is done, yeah! Don't forget what I said!" With that, the stranger started to walk away from him.

"Wait."

The stranger stopped and turned back to him. "What is it, yeah?"

"Your name."

"My name?"

"Yes, your name. You never told me what your name was."

"My name… hm, I haven't used it in a while, yeah…" The blond man, who couldn't possibly be older than thirty, grinned brightly. "My name is Deidara, Deidara of the 'Dawn', yeah!"

* * *

Sakura was in the middle of her replica garden, lying with her back on the dirt floor, marvelling, immersing within the presence of the shadowmoon flowers she hadn't seen in so long.

She smiled. They were nowhere as beautiful as the ones Naruto grew in his garden, but nevertheless its presence calmed her down and the side-effect pains from the 'joker's drug' slowly went away.

She hadn't been back here for almost two years.

_I haven't been to Naruto's Garden for almost twenty-three years. _

She bit her lower lip at the thought.

She wanted to go to his garden so badly.

But not like this. Not like this. Not when she looked so old, so ugly.

_But soon, soon I'll be back in his Garden. _

With the Akimichi secrets pills in her possession, as well as all the materials she had collected from her years as Hokage, and the many others she gathered from all around the continent during her two years of travel… the drug she so painstakingly worked so hard for was nearing completion.

Only one last ingredient remained. And it was here, right here in front of her.

The original shadowmoon flower she secretly took from Naruto's garden twenty-three years ago.

She had, originally, taken the flower only because she wanted to keep herself some sort of memento of Naruto when it became clear she couldn't go to his garden while she took up the job as Hokage. But when she took the flower, she never really expected its longevity trait be maintained outside Naruto's garden. But the flower never withered, and so when she noticed this she experimented with the plant, and from the results she created this replica garden inside her house and her private garden outside.

They were never perfect as the original, through.

Her hand reached out, about to grasp the entire plant into her hand when at the last moment she hesitated. Could she do it, though? If she researched hard enough she was sure she could actually find a actual cure for her condition. She could abandon her selfish desire for wanting to develop a drug that would've returned her youthful body just so she could see and talk with Naruto again. She still had her friends, her village, looking out for her, cared for her, loved for her.

Could she really say her goodbyes to everyone?

_That's obvious, Sakura-chan! Flowers will remind me of you! _

That idiot's voice echoed in her mind again.

She reached forward and carefully plucked the shadowmoon flower out of the ground.

In her heart, the decision has already been made.

* * *

_**- Ninth Entry - **_

"_**Prudence" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Eighth Hokage, Second year. July 7th. _

_73 years old. Year 58 of Imprisonment. _

_So far it seemed like my decision to give the Hokage name to Konohamaru after I had retired from the position 2 years ago was the correct decision. He's a feisty one, but I was sure he'd do great although he's an old man himself already. I had done this because I could no longer stand to be around my aids in my withered old appearance and I wanted more time to myself to spend some time on the drug I have been developing. 13 years and almost no progress, but I think I might have finally found a solution. _

_I wasn't planning on developing a drug that permanently retained a youthful body. Even temporarily would've been just as good, but the side-effects of the experimental drug I have developed were… _

_I am, however, already 73 years old. I have done all I could for the sake of the Village. I'm sure Naruto would be proud of me. Just this once, I wanted to do things my way. _

_I still need some time before I can reach my final decision. I do need to say my goodbyes, after all. _

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

I confess – I have a sort of a love-hate relationship going on with this chapter. The reason why I hate it is because for one, it's actually the shortest chapter that I've ever written for this story and, strangely, was also one of the most difficult because I had almost next to nothing planned out. Eventually, while I was cruising through the web I stumbled upon this speech some historical figure made about World War II (as you might've guessed, Tsunade's speech introduced in this chapter is based on that speech), and from there the idea expanded and grew. Gosh, inspiration is so important, isn't it? Regardless, I'm still relatively unsatisfied at how all this came out, through, although I can't really point a finger at why exactly that's the case.

Also, if there are any Moegi fans reading this (are there even any?), I apologize – I totally butchered her character. However, I really did need an antagonist to explain the reason why Sakura or Konohamaru didn't disband the council so they could just ignore the stupid law and free Naruto outright. However, I really do like how the conversation between Konohamaru and Moegi turned out, came out to be quite an emotion-stirring, powerful conversation. Well, in my opinion anyway. That's the love part of the relationship I have with this chapter. I think it was one of the more emotional chapters I wrote thus far.

Anyway, this ends the Chapter Nine of Medusa Javelin. Only Chapter Ten and Epilogue to go! Working on them as I speak! The end is almost in sight! Empyreal Paradox here I come! Whooo!

As per usual, thanks for reading!

- Nes Mikel


	10. Love

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

"_By what principles art thou driven?" _

* * *

_**- Final Entry - **_

"_**Love"**_

_Reign of the Eighth Hokage, Third year. March 28th. _

_74 years old. _

* * *

Today was the last day of her life.

_Not the most comforting thought to wake up to._ Sakura thought when she first opened her eyes, seeing the dim lights of the morning sun shining through the open doorway. The rays of sun were slowly creeping in and steadily illuminating her previously dark master bedroom.

She sat up from her bed, now fully conscious, and lifted her right hand so it was right in front of her face. She once had hated looking at the hand scarred with the outlines of her dark veins, but to think, today she would be finally be rid of them, it gave her a false sense of comfort.

Pushing away the sheets off her body, she stretched out her arms over her head and stifled a yawn. Yesterday had been exhausting. Not only was she invited to the grand ceremonies of celebrating Hanabi's birthday, she had also witnessed the title of the Hyuuga heir passed down to her grandson, only to have the ceremony quickly interrupted when the wife of the said grandson's water broke and Sakura was chosen deliver the child, witnessing first hand the birth of the next generation heir of the Hyuuga clan and was subsequently named the godmother of said child. It had been a very emotional, but happy day.

It made today just that more unbearable.

Sakura got out of her bed and reached for her changes in clothes.

* * *

Thankfully, today was no different than the rest.

Business as usual, and busy, busy_, busy._

However peaceful recent times may have seemed, there was always some conflict going off in some remote corner of the world, and here was no exception. Battles were fought daily, the classic struggle of life and death were weaved and grinded out in the same old way for the hundreds of medical professionals working night and day in Konoha Hospital.

Although Sakura had long since retired as the head of the Hospital, she was still considered one of, if not, the best med-nin on the entire continent. She felt a sense of duty here, and she owed her village one last day before her life finally drew to a close. The Konoha Hospital was like a second home to Sakura, it's staff her second family. Respected by everyone, she absolutely loved the place and everyone in it.

It was only fitting.

* * *

The first patient she saw today was a young civilian that went by the name of Mashiro. Wearing the standard white Hospital gown, she was sitting cross-legged on top of her sheetless bed, staring down at a dozen or so face down playing cards.

"Any luck with your _shinkei suijyaku_ game?"

Looking up from her game of Concentration, Mashiro's previously serious face soon dissolved into that of a happy one. "Ah, Sakura-sama! Good morning!"

"Good morning Mashiro-chan. Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, absolutely! That needlepoint treatment you suggested seems to be doing wonders to my body! I don't think I've slept that comfortably in ages!"

Nodding, Sakura wrote down a few quick notes on the clipboard she carried, then looked up and stretched out her head a little to the side to get a better view of Mashiro's back the gown didn't cover. "Did the pains recede any from yesterday?"

The green-haired girl was about to open her mouth to answer but Sakura interrupted her. "And be honest."

Scratching her head, she sheepishly looked ashamed. "…It's really not much better. Only while I'm sleeping does it go away."

Putting on the cool mask of a medical professional, Sakura ticked off another box off the clipboard. "All right, just take it easy okay?"

"I will, Sakura-sama! See you tomorrow!"

She really wished she hadn't said that last part.

Mashiro was terminal.

Mashiro didn't know of it yet, and wouldn't be until her disease evolved into the more critical stages. Although she felt horrible inside, in a way Sakura was glad that she wouldn't be the one to tell her of the terrible news. She would already be dead herself before that happened.

* * *

Her second and third patients for the day were second-year Genins named Miyata and Hajime that came back from a successful but bloody mission and were rushed into Emergency yesterday night, the ops handled by one of Hanabi's many junior apprentices.

Sakura went inside their room and emerged out of it only a second later. Stopping a nearby nurse, she raised two fingers, made a swiping motion across her throat and made two quick tapping gestures with her still-outstretched fingers.

They were hand signals that conveyed great meaning.

'_Two. Dead. Move them to the morgue.' _

They hadn't made it through the night.

Sakura considered signaling the nurse '_Notify the doctor who operated them'_ but ultimately decided against it. She wanted to give Hanabi's apprentice a little more precious time – the precious time of ignorance, of not knowing that the doctor was unable to save the patient.

* * *

Her fourth patient was a Jounin named Kogorou. He was famous for accepting a lot of bodyguard jobs, and he had apparently contracted a disease while escorting a rich vineyard merchant and his daughter back to River Country. Sakura looked at his sleeping form for a moment and, seeing that no one else was present in the room, snorted.

_Good-looking_. Check. _Womanizer reputation._ Check. _Got disease while escorting rich girl that looked rather loose._ Check.

She couldn't shake the feeling that he so had it coming.

She scribbled down a few suggestions for his treatment, and, a side-note, wrote a letter of recommendation to the other nurses to notify and suggest the merchant's daughter to come to the Hospital for a checkup. Attaching the papers on the clipboard in front of the patient's bed, Sakura then moved on to the next room.

* * *

The fifth had no name. He was most likely a farmer from one of the many small towns that surrounded the Village of the Hidden Leaf, and probably a poor one at that. A Genin four-man cell on their way back from a mission picked the poor chap up when they saw him sprawled across a plowed field next to a dead cow, unconscious and barely alive. They brought him back to the Hidden Leaf for treatment since the village was only twenty minutes away from where they were. Sakura wrote down a quick note telling the others to commend the Genin team responsible for bringing the man back in here. They certainly deserved the praise.

The symptoms turned out to be a simple combination of dehydration and starvation. He would be up and running in no time.

* * *

Sakura only knew the sixth one by codename: Amamiya. He was of the ANBU, and was a physically robust individual like his work demanded, and, as such, originally tried to deny illness or discomfort of any sort. A man of his station in life simply did not want to admit to difficulty.

But when the discomfort didn't go away as he said he expected (although Amamiya did tell her off rather rudely that he already knew how all men were vulnerable to stomach problems) and when eventually blood came out of his mouth, even a man like he had to admit that something was wrong.

He had tried to hide it at first. He had told her that he believed the body isn't supposed to issue blood except from a shaving cut or a battle wound. Not in any case from moving one's bowels, and it was sort of indicator certain to shake any man; all the more so a strong and otherwise confident man like Amamiya.

Like many, he delayed somewhat, asking himself it might be a temporary problem that would go away, that the discomfort would peak and abate as flu symptoms always did. But it kept on getting worse, and finally his fear got the better of him and he came tumbling down into the hospital. Today was his third day in.

"Head?" She asked without prompt. They needed no introductions.

He understood the necessity of the suddenness. "Hurts."

"Throat?"

"Hurts."

"Chest?"

"Hurts."

"Stomach?"

"Hurts."

"Genitals?"

"…Do I really have to answer that?"

"Yes."

"…Hurts."

"Care to be a little more specific? And don't give me that glare, please. I'm not doing this for fun too, you know."

"…Itches more than it hurts."

"All right, that's all I needed to know."

"…Nanadaime-sama, am I going to be all right?"

"Of course you are."

"Is that the doctor speaking inside of you or is that the truth?"

_Sharp kid. _"A bit of both." She admitted.

"Which is it?"

She hesitated for only a fraction of a second. "…You'll be able to return to ANBU, but you won't be as robust as before. You came in contact with a paralyzing poison with recessive properties. From how long ago, I don't know, but it only started to integrate itself into your system just recently. I can dull the effects but I cannot remove the poison out of your body completely."

Amamiya cursed.

"…I also suggest you don't try to sire children if you don't want another carrying that same burden."

Amamiya cursed louder.

She didn't bother asking why.

* * *

Her next ten patients weren't exactly 'patients', but were captive criminals.

Looking at the group behind the reinforced glass, Sakura thought it hard to dislike them, with their sallow faces and fidgeting mannerisms. It was their expressions most of all. They indeed looked like criminals, never quite meeting her eyes, glancing this way and that. But they were afraid and nervous, their faces a combination of fear and resignation. Sakura had to tell herself over and over that she had to treat them less important than the other lives station within this hospital. Only the kunoichi within her kept her from reaching out to them with a sympathetic hand.

She coughed once for their attention. "As you may have noticed, all of you are now in Konoha Hospital, and we have many sick people here."

Some of them laughed as if she had just said the most stupid thing in the world. She did her best to ignore them.

"You have been assigned to look after some of them. If you do this job well, you will be trained as hospital aides for work at your prisons. If not, you will be returned to your cells and your sentences. If any of you misbehaves, your punishment will be immediate and severe. Understand?"

They all nodded. They all knew what she meant by severe treatment, especially so the brutal reputations of the Torture and Interrogation squad. It became even more notorious when Ino took over Morino Ibiki's position as the head of the squad some thirty or forty years ago. Konoha's prisons were certainly not known for their sympathies.

_Nor for good prison food_. Sakura thought as she studied the group before her. They all had pale skin and eyes filled with pain and exhaustion. Well, not like they deserved any. Every single one of them was guilty of known crimes, all of them serious, and was probably guilty of just as more. Sakura told herself again that whatever pity she felt for them was residual, a result of her medical training which compelled her to view them as human beings no matter what.

Sakura nodded to the head guard watching over the criminals inside the glass cell, giving him the go-ahead. Nodding back to tell her that he understood, he then shouted out several orders and compelled the prisoners to stand up and move along. The prisoners were then subjected through a 'processing' procedure – they were stripped, showered, shaved, disinfected, dressed in a simple hospital gown with single-digit numbers on the back, and as a final touch had thick black collars attached to their necks. The guards then led them outside of the glass prison and to the entrance of the airlock right next to the cell. Opening the airlock, each of the ten prisoners were then handed a plastic bucket with various simple tools inside and were told to go inside the new room. All of them did as were told. After the last one went in, the head guard then closed the airlock shut and a few simple hand seals later had completely sealed the room.

Sakura returned to the security room next door to watch the prisoners on the TV screens. On the black and white screen, she saw their eyes shifting left and right in curiosity, padding down the corridors as if searching for a way out. Additional commands were barked out of the PA system inside the room from the head guard, and the group finally moved past the corridors and into the 'treatment' room located further inside.

It was at the entrance of the 'treatment' room that they stopped. It must have been the smell, or perhaps the sight. Most of them were slow to pick up on the situation, but when one of their numbers had finally realized that whatever this was…

Sakura watched the head guard bark more commands at the man that froze at the sight through the PA system but it soon became apparent that his words had little effect. He hesitated at first but eventually the male prisoner threw his bucket down at the floor and started to shake his fist at the camera. The other prisoners backed off, mostly curious to see what would happen. They would not be disappointed. Sakura saw the irritated head guard then press one of the many red buttons on the control panel.

The black collar the prisoner wore then subsequently exploded and the body, now headless, fell wordlessly onto the tiled floor. It was all the motivation the others needed; they went straight into the 'treatment' rooms, thinking whatever awaited them was better than what that prisoner was fated into.

Sakura's eyes drifted towards another monitor. "Can you zoom in on Patient Three?" She asked the operator controlling the cameras.

He complied, and soon Sakura was treated a full view of a bed located in the corner of the airtight 'treatment' room. The new arrival with the number '3' on his back just stood there at the foot of the bed at first, bucket in his hand, not knowing what to make of the sight he beheld. Aide Three, as she decided to call him, continued to stand there for a minute or so, looking down at the whimpering and the moaning Patient Three. The patient had his ankle chained to a bed, and had been for a long time – so long, in fact, the shackles had worn away his skin and there was a red stain on the mattress from it. He was dying.

It only took a moment longer before Aide Three looked as if he finally remembered what he'd been told to do. He then donned his plastic gloves, wet his sponge, and rubbed it across the patient's forehead. Telling the operator to back the camera off, Sakura soon saw that the others were doing the same. It was all going as planned.

Sakura stifled a sigh. The treatments regime for the dying patients on the beds was not going to be a serious one. There was no point in it. The patients too were condemned criminals, and all of them had already been subjected to an experimental infectious poison Konoha med-nins recently developed. The purpose of those aides in the room was to monitor just how infectious the poisons were. They were essentially, in other words, expendable guinea pigs.

_That's what shinobi are, Sakura. And us Medic-nins… heh, we are the most hypocritical of the bunch. You know how they say assassins sometimes make the best of doctors? Well, the opposite is true too, you know. Why, back in them golden ages, of the three Sannin I was the one who scored the highest number of kills… _

Remembering her mentor's words from long ago, Sakura only confirmed what Tsunade already knew. _She was right. We're a bunch of hypocrites indeed. _

Medic-nins didn't just save lives.

They also took them away.

God, what she would give for a bottle of sake now…

* * *

Sakura had once told her staff that she was willing to work extra hours in the hospital, but ever since she had retired as Hokage they all treated her like an old lady and insisted that she get plenty of rest. Although she hated the fact that her staff was giving her special treatment, she never refused them as long as they weren't telling her to stop working. Thus it was still early in the evening when she came face to face with her final patient of the day, a woman by the name of Tokine. The Chuunin had broken almost all of her bones in her leg.

She had tried to commit suicide.

When Sakura asked why, Tokine shot her mouth off like a machinegun.

"You want to know why I tried to kill myself by jumping off the building? Do you take me for a fool, Sakura-sama? _Of course_ I can explain why I tried to kill myself by jumping off the building, I'm not a bloody idiot. It's because my decision wasn't something idiotic; it was _logical_, the product of _proper thought_. My reasons for jumping isn't that complicated."

"Here, let me put it this way: say you were, I don't know, a Chuunin working as an assistant secretary doing administrative work in Hidden Leaf, and being the bright individual you are you've been thinking of moving to Hidden Sand for the sake of opportunity and wanting to see the world. And a few weeks later, bam! You were offered the job of assistant secretary in Hidden Sand, complete with better salaries! Well, even though it's a pretty straightforward decision, you'd still have to think for a bit, wouldn't you? You'd at least have to work out whether you could bear to move, whether you could leave your friends and colleagues behind. You might sit down with a bit of paper and draw up a list of pros and cons. Like example, cons: aged parents, friends, ramen. Pros: opportunity of a lifetime, more money, nice house, sunshine, scenic view, etc, etc…"

"It's no contest, is it? Regretting leaving the ramen behind? Give me a fucking break. Obviously your aged parents might give you pause for thought, but that's all it is – a pause, and a brief one at that too. Friends? You could always make new ones. Any sane person would be jumping at the opportunity without thinking it over twice."

"Well, that was me Sakura-sama, that was me. I realized that there simply weren't enough regrets, and lots and lots of reasons to jump. The only things on my 'cons' list were my kids, but I couldn't imagine Yoshimori letting me see them again anyway. I haven't got any aged parents, and I don't eat ramen. Suicide was my opportunity. You see now? I _told you_ that my reasons weren't that complicated."

Sakura wasn't quite sure what to say to that.

What horrified her the most, however, was how she understood most of it.

* * *

The sky was just about darkening when Sakura finally left Konoha Hospital. Waving her goodbyes to her peers and aides, she left the front doors of the Hospital and out into the cool air of her village outside. Smiling beneath her veil, she waved back as best as she could as she started her trek back towards her residence.

A rather forced sigh escaped her lips. Inside, she was rather thankful that no one had offered to her walk her home today, because try as she might everyone was worried for her health. She always told them it was unnecessary, telling them she could take care of herself, but they never listened.

_Well, this is what you wanted, right? _Her inner self was telling her.

In reality, yes, it was. Today was the day she had chosen for herself to take the drug that turned herself temporarily back into her youthful form. But before she took the drug with its fatal side effects, she wanted to spend her final hours in relative quiet. Over the past eight months, she had managed to spend a lot of quality time with every friend and every family she made. She had already said her goodbyes. If possible, until the village retreated into the quiet depths of night, when she was to carry out her final secret rendezvous with Naruto's Garden, she wanted to be alone. Her already bleeding heart would only suffer more if she met anyone else tonight. This was for the best.

But it still hurt inside.

_No one remembered that today was my birthday. _

Walking along the quiet roads at a brisk place, Sakura finally spotted her house in the distance when she suddenly realized something wrong. The lights were turned on inside. She could've sworn she had turned them off when she left for the hospital for work this morning… so why were they turned on?

_Thieves? _

She quickened her pace as she considered the possibility in her mind. Although her house was famous for their deadly traps, they were also widely known for their overzealous rumors that spread as a result – about how she laced her house full with traps because she had a secret library of forbidden jutsus inside or how she kept a collection of sacred treasures and other obscure things. Even though the rumors were false (although the sacred treasures part was actually true when she still had the Twin Emeralds with her), her denials only served to attract the foolhardy and many attempts were made on her supposed treasures. Needless to say, none of them made it out in alive, but… there was her replica garden. If anyone trashed that… not only would they come out of the house not alive, but also be put to death in the most grueling way(s) possible.

Eager to extract her vengeance on whoever had dared to enter her house, she pulled open the door.

"_SURPRISE!" _

Crackers erupted and confetti were thrown in the air as soon as she stepped foot inside of her house, greeted by every one of her friends with wide, proud smiles on their faces.

"_Happy 74th birthday Sakura!" _

They had thrown a surprise birthday party for her on her last day of her life.

She couldn't keep her tears from overflowing as she collapsed on top of her doorway and cry tears of happiness and joy.

* * *

Inuzuka Kiba _loved _parties. Even 74 years old, the man still enjoyed and embraced celebrations of all kinds in its entirety. He was a firm believer in throwing events together for every special occasion, not just for himself, but also for the ones he cared. And this surprise birthday bash they threw together for Sakrua, it was one _hellva_ party.

Well, that, and it was the perfect reason for him to get drunk on sake. He currently was doing just that, sitting on the front porch of the former Seventh Hokage's house, savoring the tastes of the alcohol made from rice. He was getting quite tipsy when he noticed a presence behind him. Grinning, the aged Dog Sennin turned around and greeted the newcomer with a friendly feral smile.

"'Ey, Shino!" He raised one of his sake cups. "Care to join me for a drink?"

His best friend only nodded as he sat down besides him on the steps and took the cup from Kiba's hand. Grinning widely, Kiba was more than happy to pour his friend a bottle. Finished, he sat the now empty bottle down to the side and raised his cup high into the night air. "To Sakura!" He toasted.

"To Sakura." Shino said as he mirrored his actions. They both then drank the alcohol down in one fell swoop.

"Ahhhh, damn. That's some good stuff. Sakura sure knows her sake."

The bug user besides him was silent but Kiba could literally smell Shino agreeing with him quietly. It was one of the perks for beings friends with someone with so few words for so long.

"So what's up?" Kiba asked as he put his cup down next to the bottle. "Inside the house too uncomfortable for you?"

"A little." Shino said, his voice still just above that of a whisper. "Like you, I prefer avoiding necessary contact with too many people."

Kiba's face flushed a little. "Naaah, it wasn't that I disliked being in there. Just the smell of so many people crowded into such a small place. I can take it for a while, but eventually, the smell just becomes too overwhelming. Especially the scents of those perfumes the kids wear nowadays, y'know?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Shino said directly.

_He's just so blunt sometimes. _Kiba thought as he picked up another bottle and poured himself another drink. He nodded back at Shino. "I kinda figured. What is it? Is it related to the ANBU guards discreetly watching over Sakura and her party tonight?"

"I was the one who assigned them."

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Kiba, do you remember the story you told me about the time you were in Grass Country six years ago?"

"Ah, you mean the one where I ran into that Chrysanthemum Guard guy while I was helping Cloud nins track down that A-Class criminal Kitano? Yeah I remember. Man, Kitano was a bitch to track down. He really had a scary face too, probably one of the scariest face I'd ever seen. Not counting Hinata's angry face of course, heheheh…"

"Do you remember the name of the sect that Chrysanthemum Guard belonged to?"

"The sect? Why?"

"Just answer me, Kiba."

"Sect huh…" Kiba's brow creased as he thought hard. "…I think he belonged to the sect of 'Dawn'."

"Do you remember the Chrysanthemum Guard's name and alias?"

"Ummmm… give me a sec." Kiba thought harder as he tried his best to recall the name of that powerful ally they temporarily joined forces with in order to track that A-class criminal down. "Kara… Kararu I think. No, wait… started with something like Kaku… ah, that's right! Kakuzu, name was Kakuzu! He said his chosen alias was _Hoku, _I think. Why, what's the matter?"

Shino retreated into his silence momentarily before he spoke again. "…It doesn't make any sense."

"Huh? Why? I mean, I'm pretty sure that's what his name was."

"Kiba, do you still remember what he looked like?"

Kiba shrugged his shoulders. "Well, yeah."

"Make an approximate guess on his age."

"His age? That's kinda hard, though. He was wearing that large red robe uniform those Chrysanthemum Guard guys wear and he had this, I dunno, facemask-ish thingy covering his mouth and a hood over his head. I remember his eyes being a strange color, though… pretty creepy, as if the color inside his eyes have been turned around inside and out-"

"His age, Kiba."

"Ah, sorry. But yeah, as I was saying, he was all covered up from head to toe so it's kinda hard to make an accurate guess on his age. But if I had to, I'd say he was somewhere around his mid-30s."

"That's the part that doesn't make sense."

Now Kiba was even more confused. "Huh?"

"One year ago, while I was serving my term as Diplomat in the Hidden Sand, I met a man who called himself a member of the Chrysanthemum Guard from the sect of 'Dawn'. He claimed his name was Deidara and his alias was _Sei._"

Kiba looked disappointed as he stopped just shy of brining the sake cup to his lips. "Awww man, you met one too? Dammit, now I can't brag that I met a member of the Chrysanthemum Guard! They're really elusive you know? They say that you have a better chance at winning the Konoha's Annual Jumbo lottery than running into one of those guys… anyway, your point?"

"Deidara was the name of an S-Class criminal from the Hidden Stone."

Kiba sputtered, almost spitting out his drink. "He's wha…! S-Class? From the Hidden Stone? Wait, if he's S-Class, why isn't that I haven't heard of him? I've never seen him in the latest Bingo Books."

"I said 'was', Kiba."

"Was?" Kiba narrowed his eyes. He was getting a tad annoyed with all this. "Dammit, Shino, stop talking cryptic talk and just spill!"

His best friend didn't seem to be fazed in the slightest. "Deidara was an S-Class criminal that once belonged to the Akatsuki organization." Shino explained. "He was removed from the Bingo Book list because he was killed by Sakura forty-nine years ago."

A pause. It took a moment for Kiba to process what Shino was saying. "Wait… so you're saying that some S-Class criminal that was killed by Sakura half a century ago all of a sudden decided to rise up from the grave and pay you a visit in the Hidden Sand?"

"Yes."

"Wow. Shino, I never expected you to be the type to crack jokes."

"Do you think I'm joking, Kiba?"

There was another pause as Kiba eyed Shino wearily. "…You aren't?"

"No. I checked the old records to confirm if the Deidara I met matched the description of Deidara from forty-nine years ago. They matched perfectly. And that Kakuzu character you just described to me, he also was an S-Class criminal, a missing-nin from the Village of the Hidden Waterfall, also a member of the Akatsuki. And he too was apparently killed forty-nine years ago, by Hidden Waterfall hunter-nins."

"…So the reports of their death were falsified? But wait, even if that's the case, they should all be pretty damn old by now. The Kakuzu I met only looked as if he were 30… 40 at most. There's no way they could be the same guy."

Kiba caught Shino breathing out the tiniest of sighs. "I know. The Deidara that I met looked no older than 30 as well. If the report of Deidara's death had indeed been falsified, he should be 80 or 90 years old by now. Not only that, these… young ex-Akatsuki members you and I both met claims to be members of the 'Dawn' sect of the Chrysanthemum Guards. That's what bothers me the most."

"Hmm? Why so?"

"What does the word 'Akatsuki' mean, Kiba?"

"Red moon, right?"

"No Kiba. I meant the kanji's meaning. The kanji."

"The kanji? Well, then it means… oh."

"Yes." Shino nodded. "The kanji for 'Akatsuki' means 'Dawn'."

"…So you're suggesting that the members of the Akatsuki organization are actually the 'Dawn' sect of the Chrysanthemum Guards in disguise?"

Shino nodded again.

Kiba looked doubtful. "Well okay, I mean, it's true that the ninjas of 'Twilight', 'Midnight', and 'Dawn' – the three different sects of the Chrysanthemum Guards – are rumored to be so strong they are said to be immortal in battle, and the myths say that they're bound by duty to protect the interests of the Capital and the Emperor until the end of time… but I mean, _come on_. It's just some stupid rumors and myths. Nothing in this world's immortal, right? What does this have to do with your ANBU guards watching over Sakura anyway?"

"I had originally planned to stay in the Hidden Sand for another term, but…"

"This young 'Deidara' fellow changed your mind." Kiba finished his sentence for him. "What did he say?" He leaned over slightly, a little curious.

"He said that I should be present during Sakura's 74th birthday. He claimed that… something 'important' was going to happen."

"Something 'important'…? Shino, is that supposedly intelligent mind of yours thinking that maybe the Emperor's going to send the Chrysanthemum Guards to assassinate Sakura? So that's why you assigned ANBU to watch over Sakura in case such attacks happen?" Kiba laughed. "That's the most absurd idea that I ever heard from you! Why would they even warn you about it even if that were the case?"

"One can never be too sure, Kiba."

Kiba dismissed Shino's comment with a wave of his hand. "Pfft, I'd say that young 'Deidara' guy was just messing with you man. Those Chrysanthemum Guard guys probably henge'd themselves after famous criminals or something just to keep their identity hidden. They're the most secretive group of ninjas after all. I kinda doubt that Kakuzu guy I met was telling me his real name anyway." Kiba poured himself another bottle of sake into his cup and offered the filled cup to Shino. "Want some more?"

Shino politely declined.

* * *

In the late and last remaining evenings of what seemed like a typical March day, a small group of travelers were crossing across the remote northwestern corners of Fire Country. They all were on foot, walking along the dirt road that was carved in the middle of a large stretch of open uncultivated land with low shrubs. The sky above them was overcast with a uniform gray; in the distance, an encompassing mist, and the day so far had been quite windless. The travelers' clothes were dark but with red accents, and an ominous aura of monotony hung about them. Their numbers totaled to ten, their faces and fit bodies indicating that even the eldest among them looked no older than someone in their mid-30s. They were all young.

They may have traveled in complete silence, but they do not go unnoticed. The air across the valley opposite of them, above where its steepness breaks into rocks and small cliffs, is noisy with deep and haunting voices, complaining of this intrusion into their domain. The sources of these threatening voices soon became apparent when a flock of ravens emerged from the forests of the nearby valley. Through the circle black specks stay away from the travelers at a safe distance, there is something foreboding in their alarm, their hostility. The group of ten that walked along the dirt road that night thought that despite their differences, they couldn't shake the feeling that these crows knew of their haunting reputation better than anyone else.

"…How amusing."

_Rei. _

"I know what you mean, yeah. They have good instincts, don't you think? Yeah."

_Sei._

"…………"

_Haku. _

"Hn."

_Shu. _

"_**Can I eat them?" **_

_Kai. _

"You really should stop thinking of trying to eat everything you see, you know."

_Ku. _

"I could chase them away with my sword, if you wish."

_Nan. _

"Ignore them. They aren't worth the trouble."

_Hoku. _

"Well, I could use those birds for sacrifices in case I run out of offerings, through."

_San._

"Am I the only one that thinks they're kinda pretty?"

_Gyoku. _

There was an awkward pause when the rest of the nine stopped walking to stare at the member with the orange mask covering the front of his face. Shaking his head, the blond man with the longest hair in the group and partner of said orange mask breathed out an excruciating sigh. "Tobi, you're the only idiot who would ever think ravens could be pretty, yeah." The bearer of the ring of _Sei _said, the visible half of face twitching from anger.

"But Deidara-senpai, they could be pretty if you put your mind into it!" The holder of _Gyoku _protested

"Mm, well, I'd say they could look pretty if they were covered in blood, through." The keeper of _San_ commented dreamily. He was a man with slacked back silver hair that wore his robe in a way that revealed a large portion of his naked chest.

"…Tch, how tasteless." The shorter, blue-haired woman behind him said. She had been bestowed the ring of _Haku. _

It was the hulking man's turn to speak. "Only if they're worth money would I ever consider it even be worthy to be looked at." He held the ring of _Hoku._

"Sheesh, Kakuzu, is money all you ever think about?"

"_**Just like how all you ever think about is your Jashinkyou sect of the Shinto religion, Hidan."**_ The plant-like tall figure that wore the ring of _Kai_ said.

"Hey, don't insult my religion like that!"

"Zetsu does have a point." A different female voice spoke, the color of her eyes strange, her right one a pale violet and the left one a tainted red. She wore the ring of _Ku. _

"For once." Agreed another, chuckling. A large man, he was, with an even larger sword strapped to his back, his sharp, toothy grin visible for everyone to see. On his ring, the inscription of _Nan _could be seen.

"Meh, whatever." The silver haired man shrugged at the poor display of support his team gave him. Not that he expected any, of course.

The blond man with long hair then turned his attention to the quiet one with dark hair standing next to him. "Well, what about you, red-eyes? You seem to use ravens in your genjutsu often, what do you think? Are they pretty, yeah?"

The holder of _Shu _eyed the blond man wearily. "…I thought I told you never to never call me by that name again, Deidara."

"Awww, but Uchiha-danna, that name suits your perfectly!"

The said red-eyed Uchiha glared back at him with visible hatred in its eyes. "…Or that name, either."

"Would you have preferred me calling you Uchiha-hime, then?" The playful man offered, his ever-happy smile never leaving his face. "With that feminine qualities you have, yeah, I guess it fits you better. Yeah."

Before the Uchiha could move in to teach the idiotic man a painful lesson in human anatomy, a tall man with auburn-colored hair wearing the ring of _Rei_ stepped in between the pair and effectively put a halt to their hostile activities with a single glare. "That's enough. We don't have all day."

"…Hn."

"Fine, Leader-sama, whatever you say. Yeah."

"But was it really all right like this?" The woman with two strange eyes spoke after the fight was broken up.

Wielding different but still equally strange eyes, both of them a blazing red, the Leader of the group of ten turned back to look at the woman. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, with… you know."

"It's all for the preservation of the 'process'. You know that."

"…I wanted to see her one last time. The 'Haruno Sakura' before she… you know."

Eyes narrowing, the Leader edged over to the woman who was now casting him worried glances. "…Even if you could, do you really want to?"

The woman that carried the symbol of _Ku_ momentarily remained silent, but eventually she shook her head. "…No, I guess not."

"At the very least, she is happy. Every one of her friends is sharing the last day of her life together with her. It's the most a person could wish for."

"I suppose so… but…"

"What's the matter, then?"

"…I'm just afraid of what the future holds. For once, my eyes cannot predict what will happen."

Silence reigned supreme as the ten wordlessly continued to trek through the grassy fields. Eventually, though, it was their Leader that broke the barrier of silence down.

"We'll worry about that once we return and submit our report to the Capital. When the life of 'Haruno Sakura' ends tonight, the dawn of a new age will begin. Not just for her, but for 'Uzumaki Naruto', for the Village of the Hidden Leaf, and us, for all of us here tonight. Let's go!"

At his command, the ten individuals then vanished into the fleeing darkness of night.

_The Akatsuki. _

_Forever existing in the Shadows, they will not end. _

_They were the dawn, and forever will be. _

* * *

Sakura wasn't naïve. She of course knew about the ANBU guards posted outside her house, watching over her every move like a hawk over their prey. She was at first worried that someone might have gotten a clue about what she was going to do that night and was going to tell her to stop her foolish plan… and a part of her wished that someone would come up and tell her just that. She knew what she was going to do was stupid, really. Who honestly would sacrifice the rest of his or her life away just to spend a few minutes of quality time with someone you haven't seen for twenty-four years?

_Someone like me._ She thought as she stared at the blue pill sitting innocently on top of her palm.

It was nearing midnight. Her birthday party had been broken up just about an hour ago upon her insistence that she had to get up early for Hospital work tomorrow. She just came back from her front door after waving goodbye to her last guest (she politely declined Lee's offer to stand guard in front of her house), she extracted the small pill from her pocket and stared at it intently. It was such a small thing, but in her hand it contained the ticket to her youthful body, the chrysalis of hard research, and the eventual instrument of her death.

ANBU guards were still keeping watch over her, she noticed. She retreated into the deeper rooms of her house and silently pulled out a bound scroll hidden behind her stocked medicine cabinet. Unrolling the scroll and spinning it around her, her hands flew through the seals of her secret technique. Well, even with or without the ANBU, she had to use this technique to reach Naruto's dungeon anyway, ever since she had sealed away the open entrance to prevent anyone from seeing the forbidden corridors. But before she did, she had burned an arcane circle into the ground of the basement floor, just in front of the sealed corridors in case she ever wanted to visit Naruto's garden again. And today was that day. She just hoped that she still had enough chakra and control to execute this jutsu…

"Ninpou: _Kamikakushi no Jutsu!" _

She flickered away.

* * *

"Ah…"

He saw a faint light, a sight that he hasn't seen for some time. Someone was coming through the corridors. It was Sakura.

"Been out of the village again?" He asked.

"Yea, another sudden conference between the Five Shadows. Been away at the Capital for a long time."

"Hmm, something big coming up?"

"…Yeah, sorta." She said dismissively as she stared at the pale flowers blossoming in the darkness.

"Sakura-chan, you don't look well."

She coughed once before she giggled at his concern. "Oh really? You haven't seen the sun in years now. I'll bet you'll look more worse for wear."

Naruto's concerned gaze never faltered. "No, but really, Sakura-chan. Be careful ok? Especially in the battlefield, don't be too reckless-"

"Oh come on, Naruto. I'm no longer the helpless little girl you once knew. I'll bet I can kick your ass a thousands times over."

Naruto took a step back. He was frightened if she was going to carry out her threat. "S-sorry…"

Sakura barked a loud "Hmph." before she returned her focus to the surrounding flowers.

"Hey, hey, Sakura-chan? What are you doing staring at those flowers for?" He asked as he approached her once he was sure that she wasn't out to kill him anymore. "It's not like it's anything new…"

Sakura turned away and looked at him in the eye. Then she did the most unexpected thing he ever thought she would do. She kissed him on the lips. It was just a light peck, but Naruto felt as if a thunderbolt had struck him on the spot. His hands immediately went for the lips, touching them as if to confirm it were still there. It was still warm. Looking at his reaction, Sakura giggled.

"Naruto, I really do love you."

His eyes were impossibly wide. "W-What's this all of a sudden?"

She slowly embraced him from behind and leaned her head over on his shoulders. She said nothing more. They shared in each other's comforting warmth for a moment longer before she let go.

"Are you going to leave?" He sounded disappointed.

"Yeah, it's real busy."

He sighed. "Alright, take good care of yourself, ok Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah… you too Naruto."

She picked up her lantern and turned away to leave. She was meters away from the corridor before she stopped.

"Naruto?" She said with her back still turned.

"Sakura-chan?"

"…I've always felt… that I belonged here. No matter what happens, I'll be back, ok?"

He didn't quite understand what she meant, but he nodded at her words. "Ok."

"Good night, Naruto."

"Good night, Sakura-chan."

He never knew then that it was last time he would ever see her again.

* * *

Still in her youthful body, she flickered back into the replica garden inside her house. She was breathing heavily. She knew that she didn't have that much time left in her.

_So I couldn't even say goodbye properly in front of him. Pathetic. _

Her eyelids were becoming heavy. She barely crawled back into her own room when she noticed her diary sitting absently on top of her wooden desk. Forcing her body to work one last time, she made her ways towards the desk and gripped her pen. Never before had she felt the thin sheets of paper and the feather-light fountain pen this heavy in her hands before.

She began to write.

* * *

It felt like eternity, but finally, the modifications to her will and her last diary entry was complete.

By now, she was barely keeping herself from drifting off into eternal sleep. Her time of death was near, and she could feel the cold rushing through her body like running water.

_Goddamnit, I'm not going to die sitting on top of a desk! If I'm going to die, I'm going to die gracefully, my back on top of my bed, peaceful! Shannaro! _

She almost laughed out loud at her Inner thought.

She felt her knees give away under her. She collapsed on top of the cold floors. No pain. She struggled to move her arms but her senses in them were escaping too.

_Naruto…! _

_Forgive me… I… _

_I… I just… _

_Wanted to see you… _

_One last tim-_

* * *

_**- Final Entry - **_

"_**Love" **_

* * *

_Reign of the Eighth Hokage, Third year. March 28th. _

_74 years old. Year 59 of Imprisonment. _

_I turned 74 today. It wasn't really a cause for a celebration, but my students and old friends still threw a party for me anyway. Theirs sons and daughters; even their grandchildren all came and celebrated the birthday with me. It was one of the most recent happy days in my life. _

_Everyone, thank you. From the bottom of my heart. _

_After I saw them off, I made my way towards the Hokage Tower with the small pill in my pocket. It has been over twenty years since I last entered the sealed corridors. It will be the last time. _

_I took the drug, and it worked beautifully, I was the same 25-year-old woman I once was again. _

_Naruto was still the same. The flowers were still a breathtaking sight. He questioned why I was staring at the flowers so intensely. I couldn't tell him because it was the last time I would ever see them again. He even saw through my unease and asked if I was feeling unwell. I told him not to worry. _

_Now that my death was near, I was faced with a decision that had plagued me for over half a century: To tell him the truth, or not. _

_As I looked at the shadowmoon flowers, I came to the conclusion that the world was a beautiful place. But for Konoha, Naruto and his garden of sanctuary was a forgotten entity, a beauty never to be enjoyed and never appreciated. And Naruto… would he be able to live happy with the knowledge that he will be forever cursed to see his loved ones die around him while he aged ever so painfully slow? _

_In the end, I ran away. I couldn't tell him. So I was still the helpless little girl Sasuke-kun and Naruto once knew after all. _

_I had considered just going to sleep next to him and let the effects of the drug take over as it robbed me of my last breath. But I couldn't do even that. In desperation I had confessed my feelings, my love I felt for him. He seemed confused, and I doubt if he understood. It was so like him. Naruto was still the stupid hyperactive blonde haired blue-eyed kid I fell in love with. _

_I left the garden of sanctuary, with promises that I will someday return. _

_As I write these last words, I realize I do not have much time left. When I close my eyes, I know it will be the last. I changed my will to include specific instructions to give this diary to Naruto when the last survivor of the person Naruto knew before he was confined to this sanctuary expects his or her death is near. _

_Again, thank you everyone. _

_And thank you, Naruto. _

_I will always wish for your happiness. _

_- Haruno Sakura _

* * *

_**-END- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

Am I evil?

Even I hate myself for having to put the characters through such… such… misery. Damn. Rereading over 'Garden of Sanctuary' one last time as I wrote this last chapter, I was crying tears. Again. Sniff. Goddamnit.

Anyway… now that I've calmed myself down (somewhat), please do not despair, because this story has NOT ended yet. I mean, do you guys honestly think, with so many unrevealed mysteries surrounding this story (the identity of Hyuuga Setsuka, the Akatsuki's objectives and why the hell they aren't dead yet) I would let it end like this? Even I'm not _that _evil.

The epilogue will be up in a few days, and I think many of you will be pleasantly surprised – or angry, I don't know, depending on how you guys think of me taking my story into the direction I'm dragging it into. Let's just say… I'm really, really excited that this project is almost done and sooooo happy that I'll soon be working on Empyreal Paradox!

Until the epilogue! Ta!

And thanks again for reading!

- Nes Mikel


	11. Virtue

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

_By Nes Mikel_

_Acknowledgment;_

_I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. _

_For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile. _

_With that said, enjoy._

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin" **_

* * *

"_The scattered fragments of my thoughts… once again mine." _

"_Long forgotten memories… filling me once more." _

"_However… these memories generate suffering… these thoughts… bring remorse…" _

"_Tell me… for what searches thou, to travel this far?" _

"_Show me… by what principles art thou driven?" _

_- Absolute Virtue, Final Fantasy XI_

* * *

_**- Epilogue - **_

"_**Virtue" **_

* * *

"-e… wha?"

_SPLASH! _

"…_blub blub blub…"_

_blink _

_blink blink _

It really couldn't be helped if Sakura's thought process had grinded to a screeching halt at that precise moment and the only course of action she could take was to repeatedly blink her eyes in confusion. It, however, soon became apparent to Sakura that blinking was a very bad idea when she finally realized that her entire head was submerged in some sort of black murky water. The repeated blinking was starting to sting her eyes. Minutes passed, and when the realization finally dawned on her, the gears of her bewildered mind finally started to turn.

_Wait, what the hell? I'm drowning? _

Before she could even process the astonishing revelation that the feelings in her arms had returned she had already instinctively moved her two arms lying lazily by her side. Smashing her palms against the murky surface, she felt the water break and her palms coming in contact of what felt like a smooth concrete floor. Then, focusing a brunt of strength she didn't know she still had left in her, she lifted her head out of the crushing waves and breathed in a fresh batch of air. It tasted coppery.

She blinked and squinted a few more times as she lifted one of her palms and rubbed it against her eyes in order for her to get rid of whatever that had gotten in. It was only then she realized that she was actually _moving her arms. _That meant…

…_I'm still alive? _

_But… but how? I just died! _

Even now she could still feel the cold brushes of death creeping up to her skin, slowly robbing the life out of her. She remembers, oh yes, she remembers indeed. It was only minutes ago when she was writing her final diary entry, putting down the pen and trying to reach her bed so she could peacefully retreat into peaceful slumber. She remembers being inches away from her bed, but she had collapsed, feeling the very force of life fleeing out her taxed body. She remembers thinking about Naruto in her final thoughts, begging him for forgiveness, for wanting to see him one last time before she died…

_Yet… I'm here. _

She was soaked from head to toe, no doubt thanks to the water she was still halfway submerged in. She pushed herself up a little bit more and tucked her knees back in so she wasn't in her push-up position and sat herself up. She discovered that the water wasn't that deep; instead, it was rather shallow, probably only reaching halfway up her knees if she decided to stand.

Sakura checked herself over. She was still wearing the same red-dress uniform she wore when she visited Naruto down in the dungeons, and judging from the fact that the skin on her arms and legs were smooth and without pores, she was still in her youthful body of when she was 25 years old. She frowned. Had her drug actually been successful in turning her body young, yet somehow not robbing her life? It was the only logical explanation she could offer herself at the moment.

_However…_ the thought slowly found itself into her mind. _Apparently, this isn't the first time I cheated death. _

_Could it be that I… did it again? _

* * *

"_Welcome home, Setsuka." _

_Sakura breathed in a deep breath and tried to exhale out her nervousness. "…So… I guess I am, then. Thanks… I guess." _

_The Hiashi lying beneath her looked up at her from his futon matress, looking a little piqued. "I take it your memory still hasn't retuned." _

"_No." _

"_I'm curious… how did you reach to the conclusion that you were Setsuka?" _

"_I didn't find it out by myself. I was told." _

"_Told?" Hiashi's face twisted into that of concern and worry. "By whom?" _

"_If you're worried that my secret might spread, then you don't have to worry. There are three people who have told me that I'm Hyuuga Setsuka, and two of them are already dead and nobody will probably believe the other one if he's caught." _

"_Who were they?" _

"_Uchiha Itachi, Orochimaru, and the thief that stole the Twin Emeralds from Cloud and for some reason decided to give it to me." _

"…_I see… I have a feeling I understand why Itachi would know. He was your… apprentice when you were still Setsuka." _

_A sharp intake of breath could be heard. "…I was Itachi's… master?" _

"_You two were quite close. That is, of course, until you… 'died'. He was quite devastated when he was told of that. He never quite was the same person afterwards." _

"…_Do you know why Itachi murdered his clan?" _

"…_No, not exactly. I had suspected that your death contributed to his eventual actions, however." _

"_Were you aware, then, that Itachi was ordered by the Fourth Hokage to infiltrate the Akatsuki?" _

_A brow was raised. _

"_I take it you didn't, then." _

"_No, I wasn't aware. So what you're saying is that when Itachi murdered the clan, he was acting under the Fourth's orders?" _

"_I'm afraid all I can offer at this point is speculation. All I know is that, somehow, the Akatsuki is aware of the information that I'm Hyuuga Setsuka." _

_Hiashi's other brow was raised. "…So the thief that stole Hizashi's eyes from the Cloud was a member of the Akatsuki as well, then…" _

_She nodded. "And I'm assuming that Orochimaru knew because he used to be in Akatsuki as well." _

_A brief silence. _

"…_Do you any idea why?" Sakura asked eventually. _

"…_I'm afraid not. This information is all new for me." _

"_Feared as much." Then, choking down the nervousness down her throat, she asked the single question that had been haunting her entire life. "How did I 'die', exactly?" _

"…_We don't know." _

"_You don't know?" _

"_About nine months before the Kyuubi attacked, you suddenly just… vanished. When the Fourth ordered a search party to find you – you're aware that the Fourth was your husband, right?" _

_She nodded. _

"_He was quite devastated that you had vanished and was desperate to find you, so he had assigned me, Hizashi, and Uchiha Madara after you. And a month later, we did find you, except at the precise moment when we found you, standing in the middle of a barren clearing in the sacred forests inside the Capital borders, there was this… flash of light, and when it cleared you quite weren't the same person anymore. You were… turned into an infant with green eyes." _

"…_And green eyes for a Hyuuga means the mark of death, right? That's why you decided that I had 'died' and I was turned into the 'Haruno Sakura' I currently am." _

"…_So you know about the effects of the caged bird seal as well, then." _

"_The thief told me." _

"…_It's worrisome how this criminal organization knows of our secrets so well…" _

"_We can make all the assumptions we want, but until we catch one of them and make them spill out the answers, we will never know. Rest assured, I'm doing my best, but it seems that they have gone back into hiding again." _

_Hiashi smiled a little. "I'm glad to know you're making an effort." _

_Sakura smiled back. "Trust me, I don't want this to spread anymore than it already has." Then, as soon as it came, it disappeared. "But… why did you decide to keep this away from me?" _

"…_I had wanted for you to lead a normal life." _

"_Because of the caged bird seal?" _

_He nodded. "I could do nothing to prevent you from receiving it. It was… it was the least I could do." _

"_And the Fourth Hokage didn't protest?" _

"_We didn't plan on telling him about it, but he found out. But eventually, after we found that whatever had happened to you was irreversible, he too agreed that his wife was now lost to him. We then decided to adopt you into the Haruno family. At the time, the Haruno had discovered that their heir was unable to give birth to any children. They were more than happy to take you in and raise you as their own daughter." _

_Sakura closed her eyes, listening to every word he said, nodding her head slowly, assimilating everything she had heard. Hiashi cleared his throat, but before he could speak again she shook her head, soothing him into silence. _

"_Setsuka…" _

"_It's all right. Hiashi, no, Hiashi-niisama… can you… can you tell me about my childhood? I may not remember any of it… but… I just want to know what I was like. What I was before. It's something I have to hear so I could accept who I really am. So… I…" _

_Teardrops were falling down into the tatami floors. She was crying. The emotions she had bottled up inside, emotions she was never supposed to show while she was Hokage, was starting to overflow. _

"…_You were quite the mischievous little one." Hiashi began, and slowly began to tell Sakura of her tale. _

* * *

But this time, it was clearly different. Not only was she not turned into an infant, she still had all of her memories of her previous life (assuming that her existence here right now was the start of a new life), and… well…

_Actually, where the hell am I? _

She finally found the courage to take a look around at her surroundings, and she soon found herself disappointed with the lack of information her eyes told her. Really, it only took one world to accurately describe her surroundings.

_Bleak. _

Okay, so she could be a bit more detailed than that. There was a lack of color, that's for sure, a deep gray monochrome everywhere she looked. The entire floor was covered with water, and she currently was sitting in the middle of what seemed to like a long hallway. The hallway itself seemed to branch into many directions with its many pathways and corners, giving her the impression that she had somehow ended up in the middle of a giant underground labyrinth. There were also gray pipes attached to the walls and ceilings, and judging from how she heard the sound of flowing water even though the water underneath her feet was unmoving, they were somehow being put to use. For what, she didn't know.

For a moment, Sakura wondered if she actually _had_ died and this place was the afterlife.

"Damn, if this really _is _the afterlife, what a depressing place this is."

_**HAH! AND I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE! **_

Even though she was still sitting, Sakura couldn't help but jump at the sudden voice that startled her out of her passiveness. Fists clenched tightly in front of her, she instinctively settled into a basic fighting stance. "Who… who's there?"

_**WHO'S THERE YOU SAY? I SHOULD BE THE ONE ASKING YOU! WHO DARES CROSSES MY DOMAIN? **_

By now she was definitely feeling the gigantic evil chakra that was pulsing out from one of the nearby pathways. She could literally see the red likeliness seeping through with her own two eyes. Whoever… or whatever had addressed her definitely lay in wait beyond there. She continued to stand there, frightened, ready for anything that this stupid afterlife was already throwing after her.

_**WHAT'S THE MATTER, HUMAN?**_ _**SCARED? WHY ARE YOU NOT ANSWERING ME? **_

A little ticked off that she was easily dismissed as just another ordinary human being (a corner of her rational mind was screaming at her saying that the voice had just now indirectly referred to itself as something that was NOT human, but she ignored it), Sakura shook her fears away and shouted back. "I'm not scared of the likes of you! And my name is Haruno Sakura! I'm not just some ordinary human you can order around, you demon!"

She expected the demon (or what she assumed as a demon) to emerge out that pathway anytime now, but the response that came back was something she certainly did not expect.

_**HOH… YOU ARE INTERESTING, LITTLE GIRL. YOU ARE THE THIRD PERSON EVER TO HAVE THE GUTS TO SPEAK BACK TO ME LIKE THAT. **_

"Third…?"

_**COME A LITTLE CLOSER SO I CAN SEE YOUR FACE. **_

Seeing that she had little else to do other than to run into the hallways that led god knows where, she obliged, stepping into the small corridor and turn a sharp left. She then found herself inside a gigantic room, coming face to face with a large gate with a simple paper in the middle that had the kanji of 'seal' inscribed.

Putting two and two together, the conclusion was automatic.

"…The nine-tails… _Kyuubi no Youko…!"_

_**SO YOU KNOW OF MY NAME… YOU ARE INDEED INTERESTING, LITTLE GIRL. **_

"…Naruto told me about this place before."

_**THE BRAT TOLD YOU ABOUT ME, EH? HMPH, THAT COWARD, HE SHOULD'VE LET ME OUT OF MY PRISON A LONG TIME AGO. HE IS A FOOL FOR WANING TO SHUT HIMSELF AWAY IN THAT DUNGEON HE IMPRISONED HIMSELF IN. BEING SENTIMENTAL OVER ONE HUMAN GIRL. PATHETIC. **_

Her eyes widened. "He's… he's imprisoned himself because of me?"

_**SO YOU ARE THE GIRL THEN! HAH! I SHOULD TEAR YOU APART FOR PUTTING ME IN SUCH PREDICAMENT, BUT THIS STUPID SEAL HAS TO GET IN THE WAY!**_

She stepped back, a little intimidated at the tailed demon's death threat. "But this… this doesn't make any sense. Why am I here?"

_**YOU DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU ARE HERE? **_

"I… died in the real world."

_**I SEE… TELL ME, LITTLE GIRL, HAVE YOU EVER COME IN CONTACT WITH MY CHAKRA WHEN THE BRAT WAS STILL OUTSIDE OF THIS PRISON? **_

A scene immediately flashed into her mind.

"_Naruto… ! This... that's enough! I'll save Sasuke-kun for you! So please... Naruto! It's enough! You don't need-" _

When she had tried to stop Naruto when he had turned into his demon form with four tails… the wound she received in her arm fifty-nine years ago…! Clutching the old scar with her right hand, her voice was shaky as she replied. "I… I did… a long time ago."

The old demon grunted his displeasure.

_**HMPH. SO YOU ARE INDEED. YOU ARE THAT HARUNO SAKURA. **_

"Y-You know about me?"

_**LISTEN CAREFULLY LITTLE GIRL. YOU HAVE ALREADY DIED, BUT BY SOME FLUKE YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY THE EMPYREAL VIRTUE TO BE THE ONE TO CORRECT THE PARADOX.**_

"Wait… what? The _Empyreal Virtue? _Are you telling me that what that _Shinto _missionary said is actually _real?" _

_**YOUR TIME HAS NOT EXPIRED. YOU STILL HAVE AN IMPORTANT DUTY TO FUFILL.**_

"What duty are you talking about?" She was shouting now. "Does this have to do with something about me being Hyuuga Setsuka? What you're saying makes no sense!"

_**LITTLE GIRL, YOU ARE NOT HYUUGA SETSUKA. **_

"What…?"

_**HYUUGA SETSUKA IS YOU. **_

"That doesn't-"

_**NO MORE QUESTIONS. THE PINNICALE OF INFINITY IS HERE. **_

A loud booming sound suddenly echoed behind her, sending ice cold shivers down her spine, effectively freezing her on the spot. Her instincts were screaming at her to turn around, but she wasn't even given that chance when she felt her body slamming against a raging wall of cold water, rushing at her like a flood. The dark water was washing her away from here. She tried to breath but only water reached her lungs. Her consciousness was escaping away from her again.

_**I SHALL BE SEEING YOU AGAIN, LITTLE GIRL. **_

The last thing she heard was that demon's voice before she finally allowed herself to drift back into the darkness.

* * *

_Warm. _

_So… warm. _

_So warm and… _

_Red? _

_Red, red, everywhere. _

_Red, red, the rush of cool winds. _

_Red, red, the yellow of blinding lights. _

_Scared. _

_Scared. _

_I'm so scared! _

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"…A baby girl, Lady Hyuuga! It's a baby girl…"

"…Nurse, don't just stand there! She's losing too much blood! Grab me another supplement AS SOON AS POSSIBLE…"

"…No use, doctor! Blood transfusion is impossible – she requires special blood, and we've already run out of blood the Hyuuga donated…"

"…Shit, she's going into shock…"

"…Hang on to me, Masaki! Please, don't leave me alone…"

_The red, the red! _

_The voices, the voices! _

_What is going on? What is going on! _

_She was so scared. She was so scared! _

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"…The vitals…"

"…Too late to save her now…"

"…I'm sorry, but she…"

"…This… this thing had taken the life of my wife away…"

"…What of the baby? Her name…"

"…I do not care anymore, I don't want to see her ever again…"

Strong hands wrapped around her body.

…_So warm. _

"Hello little sister."

…_So kind. _

"You're a cute one, aren't you? Nice to meet you, I'm Hizashi. Your older brother."

…_So reassuring. _

"Forgive father, he's just… just a little upset right now. Here, would you like to hear a lullaby? It goes on like this-"

…_So sleepy. _

"You're so beautiful, sister. You're like a flower that blossomed in winter."

…_So… tired… _

"Ah, I know! You name shall be…!"

_Setsuka. _

* * *

There are many facts that get lost in the whirlwinds of events known as history.

Orochimaru, the man who had once tried to grasp the secrets of immortal life, knew of this, and so originated his desire of everlasting life. He wanted to stand above history, to absorb all knowledge, to know all known techniques, and finally become god itself. He wanted to be one with the Empyreal Virtue.

However, even a careful man like he tends to miss a few important details.

The most important one, for example, was the time when he fought the Third Hokage in his attempt to eliminate the Village of the Hidden Leaf. During his battle with the Third Hokage, he had used a forbidden jutsu that brought the very aspects of history back into the living world, the 'Edo Tensei' – Summoning: Worldly Resurrection. Orochimaru had committed the ultimate crime by breaking the laws of causality and pitted the Third Hokage against his very own mentors.

Most historians tend to miss this fact, but Orochimaru had actually attempted to resurrect three individuals with the Worldly Resurrection. He only succeeded in bringing back the First and Second Hokage to fight against the aged Third, but failed to bring back the third, more powerful individual. Prodigy he may be, Orochimaru actually had failed in his execution and failed to summon the Fourth Hokage back into the plains of the living.

Orochimaru himself thought that he had failed because of the Third Hokage's interferences, and so dismissed his failure with a brush of his hand, but had he looked in a bit more carefully, he would've caught on that it wasn't the case. The reason Orochimaru couldn't resurrect the Fourth Hokage was quite simple.

You couldn't resurrect the living.

The Fourth Hokage was still alive.

One may ask, well, if that was the case, why didn't he come back to the Hidden Leaf to help fight off its invaders?

Actually, he was.

He was busy fighting the boy who would eventually become the Fifth Kazekage.

* * *

"…_Naruto?" _

"…_I've always felt… that I belonged here." _

"_No matter what happens, I'll be back, ok?" _

"_Good night, Naruto." _

"_Good night."_

* * *

"_**Medusa Javelin"**_

_**-END- **_

* * *

"_And good morning." _

* * *

"_**Empyreal Paradox"**_

_**-START- **_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

Almost 8 months and 94000 words later, this story has finally reached its conclusion. And all I can say is… wow. It's finally over. It really is.

Honestly, when I first started this project, I thought it was going to be rather simple, a series of ten one shots all rolled into one. But what do you know? As I started writing, it became something more, something… big. And to think, this all started with just a single piece of writing.

I have a lot of people to thank. Firstly, I would like to thank all of the people who have ever reviewed Garden of Sanctuary and Medusa Javelin. Honestly, I would've never expected a one shot to accumulate 165 reviews, and Medusa Javelin coming close and scoring 161 at the time I'm writing this author's note. Kind of funny the one shot is getting more reviews than my expansion series. Heh. But I view them both as one story, and thus, the response I got is simply just astonishing. For everyone who has read, reviewed, added to alerts or favorites, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It simply wouldn't have been possible without your support and encouragement.

Second, I would like to thank a lot of authors: Desmond Morris, Jack Whyte, Jack McDevvit, Tom Clancy, Stephen Baxter, Richard Alexander, The Sh33p, Robin Skinner, John Cleese, Mark Colby, John Fowels, Nick Hornby, Tom Wolfe, and all other authors whose writings and books I had the privilege to read. They have provided me with a lot of facts, inspiration and ideas for scenes in Medusa Javelin, and if I never had read of their works, most likely I would have never been able to finish this fiction.

Finally, I would like to give special mention to one particular reviewer, Nepehilm Reborn, on the review he submitted on May 18th, 2006.

To quote: "Hold on you guys. Let's not get around to assuming yet. The author hasn't even wrote a single sentence about the Yondaime being Naruto's Father. Have you people forgotten the "Naruto is the Yondaime." theories? Nes Mikel could easily be aiming for a "NaruSaku parallel in their past lives" plot. So we can't assume that Sakura is Naruto's Mom. Be patient."

My hats off to you, good sir, for figuring out the direction of where my story was going when the story was nowhere near close to being complete.

Again, thank you everyone for your support. I'm sure this epilogue had thrown even more people off the loop and it gave rise to even more questions, but to find out, you're just going to have to wait until I start on Empyreal Paradox.

Till then!

- Nes Mikel

_Medusa Javelin, Complete, October 2nd, 2006_


End file.
